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'fcubsotisftimberl^  Publfsbina  Co. 

"Kansas  (£tt%»  0)0. 


Copyright,  1900, 
Hudson-Kimberly  Publishing  Ck>. 


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TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


3f(C0t  5)CCaDe— 1870*1880. 
CHAPTER  I. 

Page. 

The  Louisiana  Purchase. — Its  Vast  Importance  in  the  History  of 
the  United  States. — The  Purchase  Price. — Details. — Common- 
wealth of  Missouri. — Topography 11 

CHAPTER  II. 

Title  to  Missouri  Lands. — Right  of  Discovery. — Title  of  France  and 
Spain. — Cession  to  the  United  States. — First  Settlements   .   .      18 

CHAPTER  III. 

Application  of  Missouri  to  be  Admitted  into  the  Union.— Agitation 
of  the  Slavery  Question. — "Missouri  Compromise." — Missouri 
Admitted •    •    •    .        26 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Early    Military    Operations. —  Mormon    Difficulties    in    Jackson 

County 34 


M667916 


Table  of  Contents. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Page. 
First  White  Man  in  Jackson  County. — Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Com- 
pany Establishes  a  Settlement  on  Present  Site  of  Kansas  City. 
— Incidents  Connected  with  the  New  Settlement 40 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Effects  of  the  Civil  War  on  Kansas  City.— The  Outlook.— A  Pros- 
perous Period. — TheGenesisof  the  Metropolis. — Summary.   .      48 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Situation  in  the  Early  30's.— The  First  Ferry.— The  Santa  F6 

and  Indian  Trade  Tend  to  Kansas  City 52 


SeconD  2)ecaDe— 1880*1890» 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Regarding  the  Building  of  Cities. — Comparison  of  the  Causes  that 
Led  to  the  Founding  of  Mediaeval  and  Modern  Cities. — History 
of  Modern  Cities  Largely  the  History  of  Transportation 
Facilities •   • 57 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Population  of  Kansas  City  in  1880. — The  Gould  System  of  Rail- 
roads.— Fight  between  the  Union  Pacific  and  Kansas  Pacific 
Roads. — Combined  as  One  Road. — Building  of  the  First  Cua- 
tom-House  and  Post-Office 63 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Drought  of  1881. — Did  Not  Prevent  Continued  Increase  in 
Trade. — Great  Wave  of  Prosperity  during  the  Next  Few 
Years 66 


Table  of  Contents. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Page. 

Effects  of  the  War.— The  First  Public  Schools.— Other  Educa- 
tional Interests  and  Institutions  of  this  Decade 73 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Journalism  in  Kansas  Chy  from  1865  to  1890 79 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

An  Unparalleled  Railway  System. — How  It  was  Projected. — How 
It  Developed. — How  It  has  Influenced  the  Commercial  Pros- 
perity of  the  City. — A  Comparison 90 


XLbiv^  Became— 1890*1900. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Genesis  of  the  Metropolis. — Enormous  Contiguous  Territory. 
— Romance  of  the  Waters. — Geographical  Center  of  the 
Nation. — A  Startling  Contrast. — Population. — Railroads. — 
Sketch  of  the  "Boom." — Reaction. — Story  of  the  Parks. — 
Retrospect  and  Outlook 101 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Story  of  Population. — Interesting  Comparisions  with   Other 

Large  Cities  in  Point  of  Increase  and  Size.    ........     114 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Reasons  for  this  Prosperity. —Volume  of  Wholesale  Business. — 
Grain  Elevators. — Building  Permits. — Bank  Deposits. — Clear- 
ings.— Kansas  City  Ranks  Tenth  in  Volume  of  Business.  .    .    120 


Table  of  Contents. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Page. 
A  Glance  at  the  Stock- Yard  and  Packing-House  Industries.    ...     122 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Kansas  City  in  the  Present. — Retrospect. — Prospect 123 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Ranks  with  the  Best. — Kansas  City  is  Greatest  in  Many  Things 
and  Great  in  All 129 


INTRODUCTION. 

In  the  cradle  of  Time  the  city  was  often  the  empire,  Baby- 
lon was  Babylonia;  Nineveh  was  Assyria;  Athens  was  Greece; 
Rome  was  the  world.  Only  for  generic  purposes  of  defense 
were  ever  founded  the  capitals  of  the  early  world.  Since 
then — and  especially  in  more  modern  times — the  founding  and 
growth  of  cities  have  depended  more  on  their  superior  location, 
with  reference  to  commercial  distribution,  than  on  their  easy 
defense  and  impregnability.  The  history  of  a  modern  metrop- 
olis is  essentially  the  history  of  its  transportational  facilities. 

Since  the  American  Revolution,  cities  have  ceased  to  owe 
their  origin  to  the  dictates  of  the  State — especially  so  in 
America.  And  in  the  vast  field  west  of  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains the  private  individual  has  in  nearly  every  instance  sown  the 
seed  from  which  has  sprung  a  multitude  of  cities  unparalleled 
for  their  prosperity  and  rapid  development.  The  world  has 
never  seen  an  empire  as  compact  and  solidly  built  as  are  these 
United  States;  and  from  their  exact  center  radiate  the  thous- 
and channels  of  commerce  that  have  fostered  the  growth  of 
Kansas  City. 

In  writing  this  brief  municipal  history,  an  effort  has  been 
made  to  tell  the  story  of  Kansas  City  as  completely  and  suc- 
cinctly as  possible,  without  any  indulgence  in  personalities,  or 
dwelling  too  long  on  events  only  possessing  a  restricted  and 
local  interest. 


8  Introduction. 


The  illustrations,  showing  the  progress  of  Kansas  City  in 
three  decades,  have  been  specially  designed  to  show  the  prog- 
ress of  pictorial  art  in  America  during  the  past  thirty  years. 
Those  appearing  in  the  first  and  second  decades  are  reproduc- 
tions from  former  publications  issued  during  the  respective  peri- 
ods. Before  offering  this  chronicle  to  the  public,  a  sincere  and 
grateful  acknowledgment  must  be  made  to  those  pioneer  histo- 
rians whose  labors  have  prevailed  to  rescue  the  early  history  of 
Kansas  City  from  oblivion. 


jfirst  Decabe. 

PRELIMINARY. 

1870  -  1880. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Louisiana  Purchase. — Its  Vast  Importance  in  the  History  of  the 
United  States. — The  Purchase  Price. — Details. — Common- 
wealth of  Missouri. — Topography. 

The  purchase  of  the  vast  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
River,  by  the  United  States,  extending  through  Oregon  to  the 
Pacific  coast  and  south  to  the  dominions  of  Mexico,  consti- 
tutes the  most  important  event  that  ever  occured  in  the  history 
of  the  nation. 

It  gave  to  our  Republic  additional  room  for  that  expansion 
and  stupendous  growth  to  which  it  has  since  attained,  in  all 
that  makes  it  strong  and  enduring,  and  forms  the  seat  of  an 
empire  from  which  will  radiate  an  influence  for  good  unequaled 
in  the  annals  of  time.  In  1763,  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
years  ago,  the  immense  region  of  country  known  at  that  time 
as  Louisiana  was  ceded  to  Spain  by  France.  By  a  secret 
article  in  the  treaty  of  San  I Idefonso,  concluded  in  1800,  Spain 
ceded  it  back  to  France.  Napoleon,  at  that  time,  coveted  the 
island  of  San  Domingo,  not  only  because  of  the  value  of  its 
products,  but  more  especially  because  its  location  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  would,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  afford  him  a  fine 
field  whence  he  could  the  more  effectively  guard  his  newly 
acquired  possessions.  Hence  he  desired  that  this  cession  by 
Spain  should  be  kept  a  profound  secret  until  he  succeeded  in 


12  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

reducing  San  Domingo  to  submission.  In  this  undertaking, 
however,  his  hopes  were  blasted,  and  so  great  was  his  disap- 
pointment, that  he  apparently  became  indifferent  to  the  advan- 
tages to  be  derived  to  France  from  his  purchase  of  Louisiana. 

In  1803  he  sent  out  Laussat  as  prefect  of  the  colony,  who 
gave  the  people  of  Louisiana  the  first  intimation  they  had  had 
that  they  had  once  more  become  the  subjects  of  France.  This 
was  an  occasion  of  great  rejoicing  among  the  inhabitants,  who 
were  Frenchmen  in  their  origin,  habits,  manners,  and  customs. 

President  Jefferson  on  being  informed  of  the  retrocession, 
immediately  dispatched  instructions  to  the  American  minister 
at  Paris  to  make  known  to  Napoleon  that  the  occupancy  of 
New  Orleans  by  his  government  would  not  only  endanger  the 
friendly  relations  existing  between  the  two  nations,  but  per- 
haps oblige  the  United  States  to  make  common  cause  with 
England,  his  bitterest  and  most  dreaded  enemy;  as  the  posses- 
sion of  the  city  by  France  would  give  her  command  of  the 
Mississippi,  which  was  the  only  outlet  for  the  produce  of  the 
Western  States,  and  give  her  also  control  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
so  necessary  to  the  protection  of  American  commerce.  The 
negotiations  commenced.  On  the  30th  of  April,  1803,  eight- 
een days  afterward,  the  treaty  was  signed,  and  on  the  21st  of 
October  of  the  same  year  Congress  ratified  the  treaty.  The 
United  States  was  to  pay  $11,250,000,  and  her  citizens  to 
be  compensated  for  some  illegal  captures,  to  the  amount  of 
$3,750,000,  making  an  aggregate  sum  of  $15,000,000. 

On  December  20th,  1803,  Generals  Wilkinson  and  Clai- 
borne, who  were  jointly  commissioned  to  take  possession  of 
the  territory  for  the  United  States,  arrived  in  the  city  of  New 


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Orleans  with  the  American  forces.  Laussat,  who  had  taken 
command  but  twenty  days  previously  as  the  prefect  of  the  col- 
ony, gave  up  his  command  and  the  star-spangled  banner  sup- 
planted the  tri-colored  flag  of  France.  The  authority  of  the 
United  States  in  Missouri  dates  from  this  day. 

From  this  moment  the  interests  of  the  people  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi valley  became  identified.  They  were  troubled  no  more 
with  the  uncertainties  of  free  navigation.  The  great  river, 
along  whose  banks  they  had  planted  their  towns  and  villages, 
now  afforded  them  a  safe  and  easy  outlet  to  the  markets  of  the 
world.  Under  the  protecting  aegis  of  a  government  republican 
in  form,  and  having  free  access  to  an  almost  boundless  domain, 
embracing  in  its  broad  area  the  diversified  climates  of  the 
globe,  and  possessing  a  soil  unsurpassed  for  fertility,  beauty  of 
scenery,  and  wealth  of  minerals,  they  had  every  incentive  to 
push  on  their  enterprises  and  build  up  the  land  wherein  their 
lot  had  been  cast.  In  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  it  was  known 
that  a  great  empire  had  been  secured  as  a  heritage  to  the  peo- 
ple of  our  country  for  all  time  to  come;  but  its  grandeur,  its 
possibilities,  its  inexhaustible  resources,  and  the  important  re- 
lations it  would  sustain  to  the  nation  and  the  world  were  never 
dreamed  of  by  even  Thomas  Jefferson  and  his  adroit  and 
accomplished  diplomatists.  The  most  ardent  imagination 
never  conceived  of  the  progress  which  would  mark  the  h  istory 
of  the  Great  West.  Year  after  year  civilization  has  advanced 
farther  and  farther,  until  at  length  the  mountains,  the  plains, 
the  hills  and  the  valleys,  and  even  the  rocks  and  the  caverns, 
resound  with  the  noise  and  din  of  busy  millions.  The  popula- 
tion  of  the  district   of  Louisiana  when   ceded  to  the  United 


14  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

States  was  10,120,  or  less  than  that  of  one  of  the  wards  in  the 
present  metropolis  of  Kansas  City. 

The  name  Missouri  is  derived  from  the  Indian  tongue,  and 
signifies  muddy. 

Missouri  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Iowa  (from  which  it  is 
separated  for  about  thirty  miles  on  the  northeast  by  the  Des 
Moines  River),  and  on  the  east  by  the  Mississippi  River, 
which  divides  it  from  Illinois,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  and 
on  the  west  by  the  Indian  Territory  and  by  the  States  of  Kan- 
sas and  Nebraska.  The  State  lies  (with  the  exception  of  a 
small  projection  between  the  St.  Francis  and  the  Mississippi 
rivers,  which  extends  to  36°)  between  36°  30'  and  40°  36' 
north  latitude,  and  between  12°  2'  and  18°  51'  west  longitude 
from  Washington, 

The  extreme  width  of  the  State  east  and  west  is  about  348 
miles;  its  width  on  its  northern  boundary,  measured  from  its 
northeast  corner  along  the  Iowa  line  to  its  intersection  with 
the  Des  Moines  River,  is  about  210  miles;  its  width  on  its 
southern  boundary  is  about  288  miles.  Its  average  width  is 
about  235  miles, 

The  length  of  the  State  north  and  south,  not  including  the 
narrow  strip  between  the  St.  Francis  and  Mississippi  rivers,  is 
about  282  miles.  It  is  about  450  miles  from  its  extreme 
northwest  corner  to  its  southeast  corner,  and  from  the  north- 
east corner  to  the  southwest  corner  it  is  about  230  miles. 
These  limits  embrace  an  area  of  65,350  square  miles,  or 
41.824,000  acres,  being  nearly  as  large  as  England,  and  the 
States  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire. 

North   of   the    Missouri  the  State  is  level  or  undulating, 


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Kansas  City,  Missouri.  15 

while  the  portion  south  of  that  river  (the  larger  portion  of  the 
State)  exhibits  a  greater  variety  of  surface.  In  the  south- 
eastern partis  an  extensive  marsh,  reaching  beyond  the  State 
into  Arkansas.  The  remainder  of  this  portion  between  the 
Mississippi  and  Osage  rivers  is  rolling  and  gradually  rises 
into  a  hilly  and  mountainous  district,  forming  the  outskirts  of 
the  Ozark  Mountains. 

Beyond  the  Osage  River,  at  some  distance,  commences  a 
vast  expanse  of  prairie  land,  which  stretches  away  toward  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  The  ridges  forming  the  Ozark  chain  ex- 
tend in  a  northeast  and  southwest  direction,  separating  the 
waters  that  flow  northeast  into  the  Missouri  from  those  that 
flow  southeast  into  the  Mississippi  River. 

No  State  in  the  Union  enjoys  better  facilities  for  navi- 
gation than  Missouri.  By  means  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
which  stretches  along  her  entire  eastern  boundary,  she  can 
hold  commercial  intercourse  with  the  most  northern  Territory 
and  State  in  the  Union;  with  the  whole  valley  of  the  Ohio,  with 
many  of  the  Atlantic  States,  and  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

By  the  Missouri  River  she  can  extend  her  commerce  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  receive  in  return  the  products  which 
will  come  in  the  course  of  time,  by  its  multitude  of  tributaries. 

The  Missouri  River  coasts  the  northwest  line  of  the  State  for 
about  250  miles,  following  its  windings,  and  then  flows  through 
the  State,  a  little  south  of  east,  to  its  junction  with  the  Missis- 
sippi. The  Missouri  River  receives  a  number  of  tributaries 
within  the  limits  of  the  State,  the  principal  of  which  are  the 
Nodaway,  Platte,  Loutre,and  Chariton  from  the  north,  and  the 
Blue,  Sniabar,  Grand,  Osage,  and  Gasconade  from  the  south. 


\6  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

The  principal  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  within  the  State  are 
the  Salt  River,  north,  and  the  Maramec  River,  south,  of  the 
Missouri. 

The  St.  Francis  and  White  rivers,  with  their  branches, 
drain  the  southeastern  part  of  the  State,  and  pass  into  Arkansas. 
The  Osage  is  navigable  for  steamboats  for  more  than  275 
miles.  There  are  a  vast  number  of  smaller  streams,  such  as 
creeks,  branches,  and  rivers,  which  water  the  State  in  all 
directions. 

Timber. — Not  more  towering  in  their  sublimity  were  the 
cedars  of  ancient  Lebanon,  nor  more  precious  in  their  utility 
were  the  almung- trees  of  Ophir,  than  the  native  forests  of 
Missouri.  The  river  bottoms  are  covered  with  a  luxuriant 
growth  of  oak,  ash,  elm,  hickory,  cotton  wood,  linn,  white  and 
black  walnut,  and,  in  fact,  all  the  varieties  found  in  the  Atlantic 
and  Eastern  States.  In  the  more  barren  districts  may  be  seen 
the  white  and  pin  oak,  and  in  many  places  a  dense  growth  of 
pine.  The  crab-apple,  papaw,  and  persimmon  are  abundant,  as 
also  the  hazel  and  pecan. 

Climate. — The  climate  of  Missouri  is,  in  general,  pleasant 
and  salubrious.  Like  that  of  North  America,  it  is  changeable, 
and  subject  to  sudden  and  sometimes  extreme  changes  of  heat 
and  cold;  but  it  is  decidedly  milder,  taking  the  whole  year 
through,  than  that  of  the  same  latitudes  east  of  the  mountains. 
While  the  summers  are  not  more  oppressive  than  they  are  in 
the  corresponding  latitudes  on  and  near  the  Atlantic  coast,  the 
winters  are  shorter,  and  very  much  milder,  except  during  the 
month  of  February,  which  has  many  days  of  pleasant  sunshine. 

Prairies. — Missouri  is  a  prairie  State,  especially  that  por 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  17 

tion  of  it  north  and  northwest  of  the  Missouri  River.  These 
prairies,  along  the  water-courses,  abound  with  the  thickest  and 
most  luxuriant  belts  of  timber,  while  the  "rolling"  prairies 
occupy  the  higher  portions  of  the  country,  the  descent  generally 
to  the  forests  or  bottom  lands  being  over  only  declivities. 
Many  of  these  prairies,  however,  exhibit  a  gracefully  waving 
surface,  swelling  and  sinking  with  an  easy  slope,  and  a  full 
rounded  outline,  equally  avoiding  the  unmeaning  horizontal 
surface  and  the  interruption  of  abrupt  or  angular  elevations. 

These  prairies  often  embrace  extensive  tracts  of  land,  and 
in  one  or  two  instances  they  cover  an  area  of  fifty  thousand 
acres.  During  the  spring  and  summer  they  are  carpeted  with 
a  velvet  of  green,  and  gayly  bedecked  with  flowers  of  various 
forms  and  hues,  making  a  most  fascinating  panorama  of  ever- 
changing  color  and  loveliness.  To  fully  appreciate  their  great 
beauty  and  magnitude,  they  must  be  seen. 

Soil. — The  soil  of  Missouri  is  good,  and  of  great  agricult- 
ural capabilities,  but  the  most  fertile  portions  of  the  State  are 
the  river  bottoms,  which  are  a  rich  alluvium  mixed  in  many 
cases  with  sand,  the  producing  qualities  of  which  are  not  ex- 
celled by  the  prolific  valley  of  the  famous  Nile. 

South  of  the  Missouri  River  there  is  a  greater  variety  of 
soil,  but  much  of  it  is  fertile,  and  even  in  the  mountains  and 
mineral  districts  there  are  rich  valleys,  and  about  the  sources 
of  the  White,  Eleven  Points,  Current,  and  Big  Black  rivers 
the  soil,  though  unproductive,  furnishes  a  valuable  growth 
of  yellow  pine. 

The  marshy  lands  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  State 
will,  by  a  system  of  drainage,  be  one  of  the  most  fertile  districts 
in  the  State. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Title   to  Missouri  Lands.— Right  of  Discovery.— Title  of  France  and 
Spain. — Cession  to  the  United  States. — First  Settlements. 

The  title  to  the  soil  of  Missouri  was,  of  course,  primarily 
vested  in  the  original  occupants  who  inhabited  the  country  prior 
to  its  discovery  by  the  whites.  But  the  Indians,  being  savages, 
possessed  but  few  rights  that  civilized  nations  considered  them- 
selves bound  to  respect,  so  when  they  found  this  country  in  the 
posession  of  such  a  people,  they  claimed  it  in  the  name  of  the 
King  of  France,  by  the  right  of  discovery.  It  remained  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  France  until  1763. 

Prior  to  the  year  1763,  the  entire  continent  of  North 
America  was  divided  between  France,  England,  Spain,  and 
Russia.  France  held  all  that  portion  that  now  constitutes  our 
national  domain  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  except  Texas 
and  the  territory  which  we  have  obtained  from  Mexico  and 
Russia.  The  vast  region,  while  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
France,  was  known  as  the  "Province  of  Louisiana,"  and  em- 
braced the  present  State  of  Missouri.  At  the  close  of  the  "Old 
French  War,"  in  1763,  France  gave  up  her  share  of  the  con- 
tinent, and  Spain  came  into  the  possession  of  the  territory 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  while  Great  Britain  retained 
Canada  and  the  regions  northward,  having  obtained  that  terri- 
tory by  conquest,  in  the  war  with  France.     For  thirty-seven 


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^ 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  19 

years  the  territory  now  embraced  within  the  limits  of  Missouri 
remained  as  a  part  of  the  possessions  of  Spain,  and  then  went 
back  to  France  by  the  treaty  of  San  Ildefonso,  October  1,  1800. 
On  the  30th  of  April,  1803,  France  ceded  it  to  the  United 
States,  in  consideration  of  receiving  $1 1,250,000,  and  the  liq- 
uidation of  certain  claims  held  by  citizens  of  the  United  States 
against  France,  which  amounted  to  the  further  sum  of 
$3,750,000,  making  a  total  of  $15,000,000.  It  will  thus  be 
seen  that  France  has  twice,  and  Spain  once,  held  sovereignty 
over  the  territory  embracing  Missouri,  but  the  financial  needs 
of  Napoleon  afforded  our  Government  an  opportunity  to  add 
another  empire  to  its  domain. 

On  the  31st  of  October,  1803,  an  act  of  Congress  was 
approved,  authorizing  the  President  to  take  possession  of  the 
newly  acquired  territory,  and  provided  for  it  a  temporary  gov- 
ernment; and  another  act,  approved  March  26th,  1804,  author- 
ized the  division  of  the  "Louisiana  Purchase,"  as  it  was  then 
called,  into  two  separate  Territories.  All  that  portion  south  of 
the  33d  parallel  of  north  latitude  was  called  the  "Territory  of 
Orleans,"  and  that  north  of  the  said  parallel  was  known  as  the 
"District  of  Louisiana,"  and  was  placed  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  what  was  then  known  as  "Indiana  Territory." 

By  virtue  of  an  act  of  Congress,  approved  March  3,  1805, 
the  "District  of  Louisiana"  was  organized  as  the  "Territory 
of  Louisiana,"  with  a  territorial  government  of  its  own,  which 
went  into  operation  July  4th  of  the  same  year,  and  it  so  re- 
mained till  1812.  In  this  year  the  "Territory  of  Orleans" 
became  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and  the  "Territory  of  Lou- 
isiana" was  organized^^as  the  "Territory  of  Missouri." 


20  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

This  change  took  place  under  an  act  of  Congress,  approved 
June  4,  1812.  In  1819  a  portion  of  this  territory  was  or- 
ganized as  "Arkansaw  Territory,"  and  in  1821  the  State  of 
Missouri  was  admitted,  being  a  part  of  the  former  "Territory 
of  Missouri." 

In  1836  the  "Platte  Purchase,"  then  being  a  part  of  the 
Indian  Territory,  and  now  composing  the  counties  of  Atchison, 
Andrew,  Buchanan,  Holt,  Nodaway,  and  Platte,  was  made  by 
treaty  with  the  Indians,  and  added  to  the  State.  It  will  be 
seen,  then,  that  the  soil  of  Missouri  belonged: 

1st. — To  France  with  other  territory. 

2d. — In  1768,  with  other  territory,  it  was  ceded  to  Spain. 

3d. — October  1,  1800,  it  was  ceded  with  other  territory 
from  Spain,  back  to  France. 

4th, — April  30,  1803,  it  was  ceded  with  other  territory 
by  France  to  the  United  States. 

5th. — October  31,  1803,  a  temporary  government  was 
authorized  by  Congress  for  the  newly  acquired  territory. 

6th. — October  1,  1804,  it  was  included  in  the  "District  of 
Louisiana,"  and  placed  under  the  territorial  government  of 
Indiana. 

7th. — July  4,  1805,  it  was  included  as  a  part  of  the  "Ter- 
ritory of  Louisiana,"  then  organized  with  a  separate  territorial 
government. 

8th. — June  4,  1812,  it  was  embraced  in  what ^ was  then 
made  the  "Territory  of  Missouri." 

9th. — August  10,  1821,  it  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
a  State. 

10th. — In  1836  the  "Platte  Purchase"  was  made,  adding 
more  territory  to  the  State. 


GENERAL  OFFICES.  KANSAS  PACIFIC  RAILWAY. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  21 

The  cession  by  France  April  30,  1803,  vested  the  title  in 
the  United  States,  subject  to  the  claims  of  the  Indians,  which 
it  was  very  justly  the  policy  of  the  Government  to  recognize. 
Before  the  Government  of  the  United  States  could  vest  clear 
title  to  the  soil  in  the  grantee,  it  was  necessary  to  extinguish 
the  Indian  title  by  purchase.  This  was  done  accordingly  by 
treaties  made  with  the  Indians,  at  different  times. 

The  name  of  the  first  white  man  who  set  foot  on  the  ter- 
ritory now  embraced  in  the  State  of  Missouri  is  not  known, 
nor  is  it  known  at  what  precise  period  the  first  settlements  were 
made.  It  is,  however,  generally  agreed  that  they  were  made 
at  Ste.  Genevieve  and  New  Bourbon,  tradition  fixing  the  date 
of  these  settlements  in  the  autumn  of  1735.  These  towns 
were  settled  by  the  French  from  Kaskaskia  and  St.  Philip  in 
Illinois. 

St.  Louis  was  founded  by  Pierre  Laclede  Lignest,  on  the 
15th  day  of  February,  1764.  He  was  a  native  of  France, 
and  was  one  of  the  members  of  the  company  of  Laclede  Lig- 
nest, Antoine  Maxant  &  Co.,  to  whom  a  royal  charter  had 
been  granted,  confirming  the  privilege  of  an  exclusive  trade 
with  the  Indians  of  the  Missouri  as  far  north  as  St.  Peter's 
River. 

While  in  search  of  a  trading-post,  he  ascended  the  Mis- 
sissippi as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and  finally  returned 
to  the  present  town-site  of  St.  Louis.  After  the  village  had 
been  laid  off,  he  named  it  St.  Louis,  in  honor  of  Louis  XV.  of 
France. 

The  colony  thrived  rapidly  by  accessions  from  Kaskaskia 
and  other  towns  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi  and  its 


22  Kansas  City,  MissouRi. 

trade  was  largely  increased  by  many  of  the  Indian  tribes,  who 
removed  a  portion  of  their  peltry  trade  from  the  same  towns  to 
St.  Louis.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  town  on  the  9th  day  of 
November,  1809,  by  the  court  of  Common  Pleas  of  the  dis- 
trict of  St.  Louis;  the  town  trustees  being  Auguste  Chouteau, 
Edward  Hempstead,  Jean  F.  Cabann^,  Wm.  C.  Carr.and  Wm. 
Christy,  and  incorporated  as  a  city  December  9,  1822.  The 
selection  of  the  town-site  on  which  St.  Louis  stands  was  highly 
judicious,  the  spot  not  only  being  healthful  and  having  the 
advantages  of  water  transportation  unsurpassed,  but  surrounded 
by  a  beautiful  region  of  country,  rich  in  soil  and  mineral 
resources.  St.  Louis  has  grown  to  be  the  fifth  city  in  popula- 
tion in  the  Union,  and  is  to-day  the  great  center  of  internal 
commerce  of  the  Missouri,  the  Mississippi  and  their  tributaries 
and  with  its  railroad  facilities,  it  is  destined  to  be  the  greatest 
inland  city  of  the  American  continent. 

The  next  settlement  was  made  at  Potosi,  in  Washington 
County,  in  1765,  by  Francis  Breton,  who,  while  chasing  a  bear, 
discovered  the  mine  near  the  present  town  of  Potosi,  where  he 
afterward  located. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  pioneers  who  settled  at  Potosi 
was  Moses  Austin,  of  Virginia,  who,  in  1873,  received  by 
grant  from  the  Spanish  Government  a  league  of  land,  now 
known  as  the  "Austin  Survey."  The  grant  was  made  on  con- 
dition that  Mr.  Austin  would  establish  a  lead  mine  at  Potosi 
and  work  it.  He  built  a  palatial  residence,  for  that  day,  on  the 
brow  of  the  hill  in  the  little  village,  which  was,  for  many  years, 
known  as  "Durham  Hall.'  At  this  point  the  first  shot-tower 
and  sheet-lead  manufactory  were  erected. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  23 

Five  years  after  the  founding  of  St.  Louis  the  first  settle- 
ment made  in  Northern  Missouri  was  made  at  or  near  St. 
Charles,  in  St.  Charles  County,  in  1769.  The  name  given  to 
it,  and  which  it  retained  till  1784,  was  LesPetites  Cotes, signi- 
fying Little  Hills.  The  town-site  was  located  by  Blanchette, 
a  Frenchman  surnamed  Le  Chasseur,  who  built  the  first  fort  in 
the  town  and  established  there  a  military  post. 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  military  post  at  St. 
Charles,  the  old  French  village  of  Portage  des  Sioux  was 
located  on  the  Mississippi,  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois 
River,  and  at  about  the  same  time  a  Kickapoo  villiage  was 
commenced  at  Clear  Weather  Lake.  The  present  town-site 
of  New  Madrid,  in  New  Madrid  County,  was  settled  in  1781, 
by  French  Canadians,  it  then  being  occupied  by  Delaware 
Indians.  The  place  now  known  as  Big  River  Mills,  St.  Fran- 
cois County,  was  settled  in  1796;  Andrew  Baker,  John  Alley, 
Francis  Starnater,  and  John  Andrews,  each  locating  claims. 
The  following  year  a  settlement  was  made  in  the  same  county, 
just  below  the  present  town  of  Farmington,  by  the  Rev.  Wm. 
Murphy,  a  Baptist  minister  from  East  Tennessee.  In  1796 
settlements  were  made  in  Perry  County  by  emigrants  from 
Kentucky  and  Pennsylvania;  the  latter  locating  in  the  rich 
bottom  lands  of  Bois  Brule,  the  former  generally  settling  in  the 
"Barrens,"  and  along  the  waters  of  Saline  Creek. 

Bird's  Point,  in  Mississippi  County,  opposite  Cairo,  111., 
was  settled  August  6,  1800,  by  John  Johnson,  by  virtue  of  a 
a  land-grant  from  the  commandant  under  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment. Norfolk  and  Charleston,  in  the  same  county,  were  set- 
tled  respectively   in    1800   and    1801.     Warren  County  was 


24  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

settled  in  1801.  Loutre  Island,  below  the  present  town  of 
Herman,  in  the  Missouri  River,  was  settled  by  a  few  American 
families  in  1807.  This  little  company  of  pioneers  suffered 
greatly  from  the  floods,  as  well  as  from  the  incursions  of  thiev- 
ing and  blood-thirsty  Indians,  and  many  incidents  of  a  thrilling 
character  could  be  related  of  trials  and  struggles,  had  we  the 
time  and  space. 

In  1807,  Nathan  and  Daniel  Boone,  sons  of  the  great 
hunter  and  pioneer,  in  company  with  three  others,  went  from 
St.  Louis  to  "Boone's  Lick,"  in  Howard  County,  where  they 
manufactured  salt,  and  formed  the  nucleus  of  a  small 
settlement. 

CdteSans  Dessieu,  now  called  Bakersville,  on  the  Missouri 
River,  in  Callaway  County,  was  settled  by  the  French  in  1801. 
This  little  town  was  considered  at  that  time  as  the  "Far  West'* 
of  the  new  world.  During  the  War  of  1812,  at  this  place  many 
hard-fought  battles  occurred  between  the  whites  and  Indians, 
wherein  woman's  fortitude  and  courage  greatly  assisted  in  the 
defense  of  the  settlement. 

In  1810,  a  colony  of  Kentuckians  numbering  one  hundred 
and  fifty  families  immigrated  to  Howard  County,  and  settled  in 
the  Missouri  River  bottom,  near  the  present  town  of  Franklin. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  someof  the  early  settlements 
of  Missouri,  covering  a  period  of  more  than  half  a  century. 

These  settlements  were  made  on  the  water- courses;  usually 
along  the  banks  of  the  two  great  streams,  whose  navigation 
afforded  them  transportation  for  their  marketable  commodities 
and  communication  with  the  civilized  portion  of  the  country. 

They  not  only  encountered  the  gloomy  forests,  settling  as 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  25 

they  did  by  the  river's  brink,  but  the  hostile  incursion  of  savage 
Indians,  by  whom  they  were  for  many  years  surrounded. 

The  expedients  of  these  brave  men  who  first  broke  ground 
in  the  Territory,  have  been  succeeded  by  the  permanent  and 
tasteful  improvements  of  their  descendants.  Upon  the  spots 
where  they  toiled,  dared,  and  died  are  seen  the  comfortable 
farm,  the  beautiful  village,  and  thrifty  city.  Churches  and 
school-houses  greet  the  eye  on  every  hand;  railroads  diverge  in 
every  direction,  and,  indeed,  all  the  appliances  of  a  higher  civ- 
ilization, are  profusely  strewn  over  the  smiling  surface  of  the 
State. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Application  of  Missouri  to  be  Admitted  into  the  Union. — Agitation  of 

the  Slavery  Question. — "Missouri  Compromise." — 

Missouri  Admitted. 

With  the  application  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Mis- 
souri for  her  admission  into  the  Union  commenced  the  real 
agitation  of  the  slavery  question  in  the  United  States. 

Not  only  was  our  National  Legislature  the  theater  of  angry 
discussions,  but  everywhere  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  Republic  the  "Missouri  Question"  was  the  all-absorb- 
ing theme.     The  political  skies  threatened 

"In  forked  flashes,  a  commanding  tempest," 
which  was  liable  to  burst  upon  the  nation  at  any  moment. 
Through  such  a  crisis  our  country  seemed  destined  to  pass. 
The  question  as  to  the  admission  of  Missouri  was  to  be  the 
beginning  of  this  crisis,  which  distracted  the  public  counsels  of 
the  nation  for  more  than  forty  years  afterward. 

Missouri  asked  to  be  admitted  into  the  great  family  of 
States.  "Lower  Louisiana,"  her  twin  sister  Territory,  had 
knocked  at  the  door  of  the  Union  eight  years  previously,  and 
was  admitted,  as  stipulated  by  Napoleon,  to  all  the  rights, 
privileges,  and  immunities  of  a  State;  and  in  accordance  with 
the  stipulations  of  the  same  treaty,  Missouri  now  sought  to  be 
clothed  with  the  same  rights,  privileges,  and  immunities. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  27 

As  what  is  known  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  as 
the  "Missouri  Compromise,"  of  1820,  takes  rank  among  the 
most  prominent  measures  that  had  up  to  that  day  engaged  the 
attention  of  our  National  Legislature,  we  shall  enter  somewhat 
into  its  details,  being  connected  as  they  are  with  the  annals  of 
the  State. 

February  15,  1819,  after  the  House  had  resolved  itself  into 
a  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  bill  to  authorize  the  ad- 
mission of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  and  after  the  question  of 
her  admission  had  been  discussed  for  some  time,  Mr.  Tall- 
madge,  of  New  York,  moved  to  amend  the  bill,  by  adding  to  it 
the  following  proviso: 

''And  Provided,  That  the  further  introduction  of  slavery  or 
involuntary  servitude  be  prohibited,  except  for  the  punishment 
of  crime,  wherof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  and 
that  all  children^born  within  the  said  State,  after  the  admission 
thereof  intolheJUnion,  shall  be  free  at  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years/' 

As  might  have  been  expected,  this  proviso  precipitated  the 
angry  discussions  which  lasted  for  nearly  three  years,  finally 
culminating  in  the  Missouri  Compromise.  All  phases  of  the 
slavery  question  were  presented,  not  only  in  its  moral  and 
social  aspects,  but  as  a  great  constitutional  question,  affecting 
Missouri  and  the  admission  of  future  States.  The  proviso 
when  submitted  to  a^vote,  was  adopted — 79  to  67,  and  so  re- 
ported^to  the  House. 

Hon.  John  Scott,  who  was  at  that  time  a  delegate  from  the 
Territory  of  Missouri,  was  not  permitted  to  vote,  but  as  such 
a  delegate  he  had  the  privilege  of  participating  in  the  debates 


28  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

which  followed.  On  the  16th  day  of  February  the  proviso  was 
taken  up  and  discussed.  After  several  speeches  had  been 
made,  among  them  one  by  Mr.  Scott  and  one  by  the  author  of 
the  proviso,  Mr.  Tallmadge,  the  amendment  or  proviso  was 
divided  into  two  parts,  and  voted  upon.  The  first  part  of  it, 
which  included  all  to  the  word  "convicted,"  was  adopted — 87 
to  76.  The  remaining  part  was  then  voted  upon,  and  also 
adopted,  by  82  to  78.  By  a  vote  of  97  to  56  the  bill  was 
ordered  to  be  engrossed  for  a  third  reading. 

The  Senate  Committee,  to  whom  the  bill  was  referred,  re- 
ported the  same  to  the  Senate  on  the  19th  of  February,  when 
that  body  voted  first  upon  a  motion  to  strike  out  of  the  proviso 
all  after  the  word  "convicted,"  which  was  carried  by  a  vote  of 
32  to  7.  It  then  voted  to  strike  out  the  first  entire  clause, 
which  prevailed — 22  to  16,  thereby  defeating  the  proviso. 

The  House  declined  to  concur  in  the  action  of  the  Senate, 
and  the  bill  was  again  returned  to  that  body,  which  in  turn  re- 
fused to  recede  from  its  position.  The  bill  was  lost  and  Con- 
gress adjourned.  This  was  most  unfortunate  for  the  country. 
The  people,  having  already  been  wrought  up  to  fever  heat  over  the 
agitation  of  the  question  in  the  National  Councils,  now  became 
intensely  excited.  The  press  added  fuel  to  the  flame,  and  the 
progress  of  events  seemed  rapidly  tending  to  the  downfall  of  our 
nationality. 

A  long  interval  of  nine  months  was  to  ensue  before  the 
meeting  of  Congress.  That  body  indicated  by  its  vote  upon 
the  "Missouri  Question"  that  the  two  great  sections  of  the 
country  were  politically  divided  upon  the  subject  of  slavery. 
The  restrictive  clause,  which  it  was  sought  to  impose  upon 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  29 

Missouri  as  a  condition  of  her  admission,  would  in  all  prob- 
ability be  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  admission  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Arkansas.  The  public  mind  was  in  a  state  of  great 
doubt  and  uncertainty  up  to  the  meeting  of  Congress,  which 
took  place  on  the  6th  of  December,  1819.  The  memorial  of 
the  Legislative  Council  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
Missouri  Territory  praying  for  admission  into  the  Union  was 
presented  to  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Smith,  of  South  Carolina.  It 
was  referred  to  the  Judiciary  Committee. 

Some  three  weeks  having  passed  without  any  action  there- 
on by  the  Senate,  the  bill  was  taken  up  and  discussed  by  the 
House  until  the  19th  of  February,  when  the  bill  from  the 
Senate  for  the  admission  of  Maine  was  considered.  The  bill 
for  the  admission  of  Maine  included  the  "Missouri  Question," 
by  an  amendment  which  read  as  follows: 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  all  that  territory  ceded 
by  France  to  the  United  States,  under  the  name  of  Louisiana, 
which  lies  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes,  north 
latitude  (excepting  such  part  thereof  as  is)  included  within  the 
limits  of  the  State,  contemplated  by  this  act,  slavery  and  in- 
voluntary servitude,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  convicted,  shall  be  and  is 
hereby  forever  prohibited;  Provided,  always,  That  any  person 
escaping  into  the  same  from  whom  labor  or  service  is  lawfully 
claimed,  in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States,  such 
fugitive  may  be  lawfully  reclaimed  and  conveyed  to  the  person 
claiming  his  or  her  labor  or  service^  as  aforesaid." 

The  Senate  adopted  this  amendment,  which  formed  the 


30  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

basis  of  the  "Missouri  Compromise,"  modified  afterward  by 
striking  out  the  words,  ''excepting  only  such  part  thereof.'' 

The  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  24  to  20.  On  the 
2d  day  of  March  the  House  took  up  the  bill  and  amendments 
for  consideration,  and  by  a  vote  of  134  to  42  concurred  in  the 
Senate  amendment,  and  the  bill,  being  passed  by  the  two 
Houses,  constituted  Section  8  of  "An  Act  to  authorize  the 
people  of  the  Missouri  Territory  to  form  a  Constitution  and 
State  Government,  and  for  the  admission  of  such  State  into 
the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  and  to 
prohibit  slavery  in  certain  territory." 

This  act  was  approved  March  6,  1820.  Missouri  then 
contained  fifteen  organized  counties.  By  act  of  Congress  the 
people  of  said  State  were  authorized  to  hold  an  election  on  the 
first  Monday,  and  two  succeeding  days  thereafter  in  May,  1820, 
to  select  representatives  to  a  State  convention.  This  conven- 
tion met  in  St.  Louis  on  the  12th  of  June,  following  the  elec- 
tion in  May,  and  concluded  its  labors  on  the  19th  of  July,  1820. 
David  Barton  was  its  president  and  Wm.  G.  Pettis  its  secretary. 
There  were  forty-one  members  of  this  convention,  men  of 
ability  and  statesmanship,  as  the  admirable  constitution  which 
they  framed  amply  testifies. 

On  the  13th  of  November,  1820,  Congress  met  again,  and 
on  the  6th  of  the  same  month  Mr.  Scott,  the  delegate  from 
Missouri,  presented  to  the  House  the  constitution  as  framed 
by  the  convention.  The  same  was  referred  to  a  select  com- 
mittee, who  made  thereon  a  favorable  report. 

The  admission  of  the  State,  however,  was  resisted  because 
it  was  claimed   that  its  constitution  sanctioned  slavery,  and 


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Kansas  City,  Missouri.  31 

authorized  the  Legislature  to  pass  laws  preventing  free  negroes 
and  mulattoes  from  settling  in  the  State.  The  report  of  the 
committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  Constitution  of  Missouri 
was  accompanied  by  a  preamble  and  resolutions,  offered  by 
Mr.  Lowndes,  of  South  Carolina.  The  preamble  and  resolu- 
tions were  stricken  out. 

The  application  of  the  State  for  admission  shared  the  same 
fate  in  the  Senate.  The  question  was  referred  to  a  select 
committee,  who,  on  the  29th  of  November,  reported  in  favor 
of  admitting  the  State.  The  debate,  which  followed,  contin- 
ued for  two  weeks,  and  finally  Mr.  Eaton,  of  Tennessee, 
offered  an  amendment  to  the  resolution  as  follows: 

''Provided,  That  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  so  con- 
strued as  to  give  the  assent  of  Congress  to  any  provision  in  the 
Constitution  of  Missouri,  if  any  such  there  be,  which  contra- 
venes that  clause  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
which  declares  that  the  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled 
to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several 
States." 

The  resolution,  as  amended,  was  adopted.  The  resolution 
and  proviso  were  again  taken  up  and  discussed  at  great  length, 
when  the  committee  agreed  to  report  the  resolution  to  the 
House. 

The  question  on  agreeing  to  the  amendment,  as  reported 
from  the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  was  lost  in  the  House.  A 
similar  resolution  afterward  passed  the  Senate,  but  was  again 
rejected  in  the  House.  Then  it  was  that  that  great  statesman 
and  pure  patriot,  Henry  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  feeling  that  the 
hour  had  come  when  angry  discussions  should  cease. 


32  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

"With  grave 
-Aspect  he  rose,  and  in  his  rising  seem'd 

A  pillar  of  state;  deep  on  his  front  engraven 

Deliberation  sat  and  public  care 

And  princely  counsel  in  his  face  yet  shone 

Majestic,"  ***** 
proposed  that  the  question  of  Missouri's  admission  be  referred 
to  a  committee  consisting  of  twenty-three  persons  (a  number 
equal  to  the  number  of  States  then  composing  the  Union),  be 
appointed  to  act  in  conjunction  with  a  committee  of  the  Senate 
to  consider  and  report  whether  Missouri  should  be  admitted,  etc. 
The  motion  prevailed;  the  committee  was  appointed  and 
Mr.  Clay  made  its  chairman.  The  Senate  selected  seven  of 
its  members  to  act  with  the  committee  of  twenty-three,  and  on 
the  26th  of  February  the  following  report  was  made  by  that 
committee: 

"Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled:  That 
Missouri  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union,  on  an  equal  footing 
with  the  original  States,  in  all  respects  whatever,  upon  the 
fundamental  condition  that  the  fourth  clause  of  the  twenty- 
sixth  section  of  the  third  article  of  the  Constitution  submitted 
on  the  part  of  said  State  to  Congress  shall  never  be  construed 
to  authorize  the  passage  of  any  law,  and  that  no  law  shall  be 
passed  in  conformity  thereto,  by  which  any  citizen  of  either  of 
the  States  in  this  Union  shall  be  excluded  from  the  enjoyment 
of  any  of  the  privileges  and  immunities  to  which  such  citizen 
is  entitled  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States;  Pro- 
uidea,  That  the  Legislature  of  said  State,  by  a  Solemn  Public 
Act,  shall  declare  the  assent  of  the  said  State  to  the  said  fund- 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  33 

amental  condition  and  shall  transmit  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  on  or  before  the  fourth  Monday  in  November 
next,  an  authentic  copy  of  the  said  act;  upon  the  receipt 
whereof,  the  President,  by  proclamation,  shall  announce  the 
fact;  whereupon,  and  without  any  further  proceeding  on  the 
part  of  Congress,  the  admission  of  the  said  State  into  the 
Union  shall  be  considered  complete." 

This  resolution,  after  a  brief  debate,  was  adopted  in  the 
House,  and  passed  the  Senate  on  the  28th  of  February,   1821. 

At  a  special  session  of  the  Legislature  held  in  St.  Charles 
in  June  following,  a  Solemn  Public  Act  was  adopted,  giving  its 
assent  to  the  conditions  of  admission,  as  expressed  in  the  res- 
olution of  Mr.  Clay.  August  10,  1821,  President  Monroe  an- 
nounced by  proclamation  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the 
Union  to  be  complete. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Early  Military  Operations. — Mormon  Difficulties  in  Jackson  County. 

On  the  14th  day  of  May,  1832,  a  bloody  engagement  took 
place  between  the  regular  forces  of  the  United  States  and  a 
part  of  the  Sacs,  Foxes,  and  Winnebagoe  Indians  commanded 
by  Black  Hawk  and  Keokuk,  near  Dixon's  Ferry  in  Illinois. 

The  Governor  (John  Miller)  of  Missouri,  fearing  these  sav- 
ages would  invade  the  soil  of  his  State,  ordered  Major-General 
Richard  Gentry  to  raise  one  thousand  volunteers  for  the  defense 
of  the  frontier.  Five  companies  were  at  once  raised  in  Boone 
County,  and  in  Callaway,  Montgomery,  St.  Charles,  Lincoln, 
Pike,  Marion,  Ralls,  Clay,  and  Monroe  other  companies  were 
raised. 

Two  of  these  companies,  commanded  respectively  by  Cap- 
tain John  Jaimison,  of  Callaway,  and  Captain  David  M.  Hick- 
man, of  Boone  County,  were  mustered  into  service  in  July  for 
thirty  days,  and  put  under  command  of  Major  Thomas  W. 
Conyers. 

This  detachment,  accompanied  by  General  Gentry,  arrived 
at  Fort  Pike  on  the  15th  of  July,  1832.  Finding  that  the 
Indians  had  not  crossed  the  Mississippi  into  Missouri,  General 
Gentry  returned  to  Columbia,  leaving  the  fort  in  charge  of 
Major  Conyers.  Thirty  days  having  expired,  the  command 
under  Major  Conyers  was  relieved  by  two  other  companies 


\ 


r.^^^.^^.  ^'yif^■y:r.rl■.r^y:^.n■i^Jl:^:^i£:,SS?>^^ 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  35 

under  Captains  Sinclair  Kirtley,  of  Boone,  and  Patrick  Ewing, 
of  Callaway.  This  detachment  was  marched  to  Fort  Pike  by 
Colonel  Austin  A,  King,  who  conducted  the  two  companies 
under  Major  Conyers  home.  Major  Conyers  was  left  in 
charge  of  the  fort,  where  he  remained  till  September  following, 
at  which  time  the  Indian  troubles,  so  far  as  Missouri  was  con- 
cerned, having  all  subsided,  the  frontier  forces  were  mustered 
out  of  service. 

Black  Hawk  continued  the  war  in  Iowa  and  Illinois  and 
was  finally  defeated  and  captured  in   1833. 

In  1832,  Joseph  Smith,  the  leader  of  the  Mormons,  and 
the  chosen  prophet  and  apostle,  as  he  claimed,  of  the  Most 
High,  came  with  many  followers  to  Jackson  County,  Missouri, 
where  they  located  and  entered  several  thousand  acres  of  land. 

The  object  of  his  coming  so  far  west — upon  the  very  out- 
skirts of  civilization  at  that  time —was  to  more  securely 
establish  his  church,  and  the  more  effectively  to  instruct  his 
followers  in  its  peculiar  tenets  and  practices. 

Upon  the  present  town-site  of  Independence  the  Mormons 
located  their  "Zion,"  and  gave  it  the  name  of  "The  New 
Jerusalem."  They  published  here  the  Evening  Star  and  made 
themselves  generally  obnoxious  to  the  Gentiles,  who  were  then 
in  a  minority,  by  their  denunciatory  articles  through  their 
paper,  their  clannishness,  and  their  polygamous  practices. 

Dreading  the  demoralizing  influence  of  a  paper  which 
seemed  to  be  inspired  only  with  hatred  and  malice  toward 
them,  the  Gentiles  threw  the  press  and  type  into  the  Missouri 
River,  tarred  and  feathered  one  of  their  bishops,  and  otherwise 
gave  the  Mormons  and  their  leaders  to  understand  that  they 


36  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

must  conduct  themselves  in  an  entirely  different  manner  if 
they  wished  to  be  let  alone. 

After  the  destruction  of  their  paper  and  press,  they  became 
furiously  incensed,  arid  sought  many  opportunities  for  retalia- 
tion. Matters  continued  in  an  uncertain  condition  until  the 
31st  of  October,  1833,  when  a  deadly  conflict  occurred  near 
Westport,  in  which  two  Gentiles  and  one  Mormon  were  killed. 

On  the  2d  of  November  following  the  Mormons  were  over- 
powered, and  compelled  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  agree  to 
leave  the  county  with  their  families  by  January  1st,  on  the 
condition  that  the  owner  would  be  paid  for  his  printing  press. 

Leaving  Jackson  County,  they  crossed  the  Missouri  and 
located  in  Clay,  Carroll,  Caldwell,  and  other  counties,  and  se- 
lected in  Caldwell  County  a  town-site,  which  they  called  "Far 
West,"  and  where  they  entered  more  land  for  their  future 
homes. 

Through  the  influence  of  their  missionaries,  who  were  ex- 
erting themselves  in  the  East  and  in  different  portions  of 
Europe,  converts  had  constantly  flocked  to  their  standard,  and 
Far  West  and  other  Mormon  settlements  rapidly  prospered. 

In  1837  they  commenced  the  erection  of  a  magnificent 
temple,  but  never  finished  it.  As  their  settlements  increased 
in  numbers  they  became  bolder  in  their  practices  and  deeds 
of  lawlessness. 

During  the  summer  of  1 838  two  of  their  leaders  settled  in 
the  town  of  De  Witt,  on  the  Missouri  River,  having  purchased 
the  land  from  an  Illinois  merchant.  De  Witt  was  in  Carroll 
County,  and  a  good  point  from  which  to  forward  goods  and 
immigrants  to  their  town — Far  West. 


73 

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Kansas  City,  Missouri.  37 

Upon  its  being  ascertained  tliat  these  parties  were  Mormon 
leaders,  the  Gentiles  called  a  public  meeting,  which  was 
addressed  by  some  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  the  county. 
Nothing  however,  was  done  at  this  meeting,  but  at  a  subse- 
quent meeting,  which  was  held  a  few  days  afterward,  a  com- 
mittee of  citizens  was  appointed  to  notify  Col.  H inkle  (one  of 
the  Mormon  leaders  at  De  Witt)  of  what  they  intended  to  do. 

Col.  Hinkle,  upon  being  notified  by  this  committee,  became 
indignant,  and  threatened  extermination  to  all  who  should 
attempt  to  molest  him  or  the  Saints. 

In  anticipation  of  trouble,  and  believing  that  the  Gentiles 
would  attempt  to  force  them  from  De  Witt,  Mormon  recruits 
flocked  to  the  town  from  every  direction,  and  pitched  their 
tents  in  and  around  the  town  in  great  numbers. 

The  Gentiles,  nothing  daunted,  planned  an  attack  upon  this 
encampment,  to  take  place  on  the  21st  of  September,  1838, 
and,  accordingly,  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  bivouacked  near 
the  town  on  that  day.  A  conflict  ensued,  but  nothing  serious 
occurred. 

The  Mormons  evacuated  their  works  and  fled  to  some  log 
houses,  where  they  could  the  more  successfully  resist  the 
Gentiles,  who  had  in  the  meantime  returned  to  their  camp  to 
await  reinforcements.  Troops  from  Howard,  Ray,  and  other 
counties  came  to  their  assistance,  and  increased  their  number 
to  five-hundred  men. 

Congreve  Jackson  was  chosen  brigadier- general;  Ebenezer 
Price,  colonel;  Singleton  Vaughan,  lieutenant-colonel;  and 
Sarchel  Woods,  major.  After  some  days  of  discipline,  this 
brigade  prepared  for  an  assault,  but  before  the  attack  was  com- 


38  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

menced  Judge  James  Earickscn  and  William  F.  Dunnica, 
influential  citizens  of  Howard  County,  asked  permission  of 
General  Jackson  to  let  them  try  and  adjust  the  difficulties 
without  any  bloodshed. 

It  was  finally  agreed  that  Judge  Earickson  should  propose 
to  the  Mormons  that,  if  they  would  pay  for  all  the  cattle  they 
had  killed  belonging  to  the  citizens,  and  load  their  wagons  dur- 
ing the  night  and  be  ready  to  move  by  ten  o'clock  next  morn- 
ing, and  make  no  further  attempt  to  settle  in  Howard  County, 
the  citizens  would  purchase  at  first  cost  their  lots  in  De  Witt  and 
one  or  two  adjoining  tracts  of  land. 

Col.  Hinkle,  the  leader  of  the  Mormons,  at  first  refused  all 
attempts  to  settle  the  difficulties  in  this  way,  but  finally  agreed 
to  the  proposition. 

In  accordance  therewith,  the  Mormons  without  further  de- 
lay, loaded  up  their  wagons  for  the  town  of  Far  West,  in  Cald- 
well County.  Whether  the  terms  of  the  agreement  were  ever 
carried  out  on  the  part  of  the  citizens,  is  not  known. 

The  Mormons  had  doubtless  suffered  much  and  in  many 
ways — the  result  of  their  own  acts— but  their  trials  and  suffer- 
ings were  not  at  an  end. 

In  1838  the  discord  between  the  citizens  and  Mormons 
became  so  great  that  Governor  Boggs  issued  a  proclamation 
ordering  Major-General  David  R.  Atchison  to  call  the  militia 
of  his  division  to  enforce  the  laws.  He  called  out  a  part  of 
the  1st  Brigade  of  the  Missouri  State  Militia,  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  A.  W.  Doniphan,  who  proceeded  to  the  seat 
of  war.  General  John  B.  Clark,  of  Howard  County,  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  militia. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  39 

The  Mormon  forces  numbered  about  1,000  men,  and  were 
led  by  G.  W.  H inkle.  The  first  engagement  occurred  at 
Crooked  River,  where  one  Mormon  was  killed.  The  principal 
fight  took  place  at  Haughn's  Mills,  where  eighteen  Mormons 
were  killed  and  the  balance  captured,  some  of  them  being 
killed  after  they  had  surrendered.  Only  one  militiaman  was 
wounded. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1838,  Joe  Smith  surrendered  the 
town  of  Far  West  to  General  Doniphan,  agreeing  to  his  con- 
ditions, viz.:  that  they  should  deliver  up  their  arms,  surrender 
their  prominent  leaders  for  trial,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
Mormons  should,  with  their  families,  leave  the  State.  Indict- 
ments were  found  against  a  number  of  these  leaders,  including 
Joe  Smith,  who,  while  being  taken  to  Boone  County  for  trial, 
made  his  escape,  and  was  afterward,  in  1844,  killed  at  Car- 
thage, Illinois,  with  his  brother  Hyrum. 


CHAPTER  V. 

First  White  Man  in  Jackson  County. — Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company 

Establishes  a  Settlement  on  Present  Site  of  Kansas  City. — 

Incidents  Connected  with  the  New  Settlement. 

Probably  the  first  white  man  to  set  foot  on  the  present  site 
of  Kansas  City  was  Col.  Daniel  M.  Boone,  a  son  of  Daniel 
Boone.  This  was  in  1787,  and  it  is  stated  he  spent  twelve 
winters  trapping  beaver  on  the  banks  of  the  Blue.  After  the 
settlement  of  the  country,  he  made  a  permanent  residence  on 
a  farm  near  Westport,  now  a  suburb  of  Kansas  City,  until  his 
death  in  1832. 

At  an  early  date,  probably  as  early  as  1828,  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain Fur  Company  began  to  embark  at  the  Kawsmouth  settle- 
ment. Washington  Irving,  in  "Astoria,"  gives  an  excellent  ac- 
count of  some  of  these  early  expeditions.  While  this  exten- 
sive French-Indian  and  fur  trade  was  being  conducted,  and 
while  the  Indian  trade  was  being  developed  at  Westport,  Mo., 
another  interest  was  being  developed,  which,  in  after  years, 
gave  the  third  recognition  of  the  advantages  of  the  angle  in  the 
Missouri  River  at  Kansas  City  for  an  extensive  distributive 
trade  and  contributed  largely  to  its  early  development.  This 
was  the  once  great  overland  trade  with  Northern  Mexico,  pop- 
ularly known  as  the  Santa  F6  trade.  This  trade  was  for  many 
years  of  great  magnitude  and  importance  and  attracted  much 
attention  in  all  parts  of  the  country.     The  arrival  and  depart- 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  41 

ure  of  the  caravans  were  watched  for  with  as  much  interest, 
and  were  as  regularly  and  scrupulously  chronicled  by  the  press, 
as  are  the  arrivals  and  departures  of  steamers  at  great  com- 
mercial ports.  The  points  that  at  first  competed  for  this  trade 
at  this  angle  of  the  river  were  Blue  Mills,  Port  Osage,  and 
Independence,  Missouri.  Blue  Mills,  which  was  situated  about 
six  miles  below  Independence,  soon  became  the  favorite  land- 
ing-point, and  the  exchange  between  wagons  and  boats  settled 
there  and  defied  all  efforts  to  remove  it.  Independence,  being 
the  county  seat,  was  the  larger  and  more  important  place,  and 
became  the  American  headquarters  of  the  trade  and  the  out- 
fitting-point  as  early  as  1832. 

However,  Independence  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  enjoy  a 
monopoly  of  the  trade  for  any  great  length  of  time.  The  Mex- 
ican traders,  finding  accommodations  for  themselves  at  West- 
port,  so  much  nearer  the  prairies,  where  they  could  herd  their 
teams  while  awaiting  the  arrival  of  their  goods  at  Blue 
Mills,  soon  took  advantage  of  that  fact.  The  large  numbers 
of  them  that  stopped  there,  and  the  trade  they  naturally  caused, 
added  an  additional  element  to  the  prosperity  of  Westport,  and 
there  began  to  be  some  outfitting  done  there,  but  in  a  smaller 
way  than  at  Independence.  Others  followed  their  example, 
and  then  a  tendency  to  make  headquarters  at  Westport  added 
the  Santa  Fe  business  to  that  of  the  Indian  and  fur  trade 
already  done  at  this  place  and  Westport.  It  was  this  tendency 
more  than  anything  else  that  suggested  the  idea  of  a  town 
where  Kansas  City  now  stands. 

There  were  many  different  opinions  about  the  prospects  for 
the  new   town.     Independence   and  Westport  nick-named   it 


42  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

Westport  Landing  in  derision,  and,  owing  to  its  non-develop- 
ment for  so  many  years,  it  came  to  be  generally  known  by  this 
name.  However,  there  were  others  who  regarded  it  differently. 
Senator  Thomas  H.  Benton,  than  whom  none  better  knew  the 
controlling  facts  of  trade,  while  visiting  Randolph,  nearly  oppo- 
site three  miles  below  the  city  at  this  time,  pointed  to  it  and 
remarked  that  it  was  destined  to  become  the  greatest  commer- 
cial center  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  town  grew.  In  1860 
it  was  the  most  prosperous  and  thriving  city  on  the  Western 
border.  And  ten  years  later  it  had  a  population  of  over  30,000. 
The  steady  march  of  years  had  gone  almost  round  the  cycle 
of  the  centennial  since  the  Republic  was  founded.  And  amid 
the  pride  of  the  hour,  the  struggling  little  city  realized  a  decade 
of  its  own  not  unmarked  with  the  footsteps  of  the  age,  and  not 
unnoticeable  in  its  brilliant  procession.  The  city  had  no 
euphonious  name — no  heroic  age.  Its  Knights  of  the  Round 
Table  had  long  since  been  driven  away  to  the  plains  and  the 
mountains.  Chivalrous  crusader  had  never  pranced  his  steed 
over  these  fertile  lands.  Here  no  sacred  shrine  ever  attracted 
pilgrim's  devotions.  Ruin  of  ancient  temple  would  not  here 
reward  antiquarian  search,  and  the  conqueror's  column,  em- 
blazoned with  victories  won,  would  here  arise  on  no  classic 
ground;  yet  there  were  veins  of  quaint  history  and  odd  humor 
mingled  with  the  solid  strata  of  early  Western  enterprise  and 
thrift  even  here  in  the  rude  City  of  Kansas.  Dropping  back 
for  a  moment,  away  deep  in  the  shades  of  1832,  a  daring 
Frenchman  escaping  from  the  Canadas,  with  a  few  uoyageurs, 
floats  down  the  current  of  the  Mississippi,  thrusts  his  bateau 
up  the  wilderness   of  the  Missouri,   swings  into  land   at  the 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  43 

mouth  of  the  Kansas,  and,  mounting  the  bluff,  sails  his  cap  in 
air  and  shouts  ''La  libertie!"  He  had  left  his  own  dangerous 
name  in  a  Canadian  prison,  and  from  that  first  hurrah  from 
the  Kansas  City  bluffs,  his  comrades  gave  him  the  name, 
seen  so  often  in  the  earliest  records  of  Western  Missouri  land- 
titles — "  Lalibertie." 

Such  was  one  of  the  first  pioneers.  Lalibertie  afterward 
had  a  fair  daughter,  and  with  her  hand  the  old  man  offered 
twenty  acres  of  land.  One  Dennoyer,  sought,  won,  and  mar- 
ried, and  forthwith  demanded  also  her  dower.  At  such  hasty 
claim  then  rose  high  the  blood  of  the  old  Gaul,  and  Dennoyer 
received  his  lady's  dower  in  a  long  useless  strip  of  land  but  ten 
rods  wide.  This  land  now  comprises  one  hundred  lots  on 
South  Broadway  on  which  stand  some  of  the  finest  residences 
of  the  city. 

The  French  fur  traders  were  rude  spirits,  careless  of  life  as 
of  property.  They  bartered  what  are  now  business  blocks  of 
immense  value  in  the  same  balance  with  their  Indian  wives 
and  their  coon-skins.  One  legend  has  come  down  from  them 
which  may  serve  as  an  illustration:  Trembly  and  Lagottrie 
owned  each  a  forty-acre  tract  in  the  bottom  lands.  They 
agreed  to  exchange  one  for  the  other,  and  the  families  actually 
removed  into  the  cabin  formerly  occupied  by  the  other  respect- 
ively. Then  came  the  execution  of  the  deeds,  but  Madame 
Trombly  refused  to  make  her  mark  unless  she  received  her 
present  of  a  silk  gown,  according  to  the  old  custom  of  the 
bourgeoisie.  The  two  tracts  together  did  not  equal  the  value 
of  the  silk,  so  the  deeds  were  tossed  away.  One  of  these 
tracts  is   now   covered  by  the  Union   Depot  and   a  law-suit. 


44  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

The  other  has  been  swept  away  by  the  Missouri  River  as  com- 
pletely as  has  been  every  vestige  of  the  old  French  voyageurs. 
During  and  just  prior  to  the  Civil  War,  Kansas  City  was 
the  scene  of  intense  excitement.  In  fact,  when  it  is  considered 
that  John  Brown  began  his  harrowing  career  on  the  Kansas 
border,  it  appears  that  this  vicinity  was  the  real  cradle  of  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion.  At  that  time  the  old  Gillis  House  on 
the  levee  was  the  leading  hostelry  in  Kansas  City,  and  many 
and  exciting  are  the  traditions  connected  with  its  history.  An 
early  settler,  describing  this  historic  tavern,  pictures  the  sur- 
roundings of  which  it  was  the  center  in  these  few  vivid  words: 
"From  my  eight-by-ten  front  room  on  the  second  floor  of  the 
old  Gillis  House,  it  was  interesting  to  watch  the  arrival  and 
departure  of  steamers  and  to  witness  the  antics  of  half-drunken 
Indians  from  over  the  Kaw,  who,  mounting  their  ponies,  with 
unearthly  yells  would  fly  by  my  window  reeling  to  and  fro  as 
though  ready  at  any  moment  to  fall  to  the  ground.  It  was  no 
unusual  thing  to  see  fifty  or  sixty  armed  Southerners  arrive  and 
to  hear  their  cry, 'Death  to  all  the  d— d  Yankees!'  Daily 
mutterings  of  war  and  strife  came  to  our  ears,  and  our  Yankee 
hotel  was  threatened  with  destruction.  In  consequence,  we 
slept  nightly  with  revolvers  under  our  pillows  and  a  Sharp's  rifle 
close  at  hand."  It  was  in  this  hotel  that  Andrew  H.  Reeder, 
Governor  of  Kansas,  was  hid  at  the  time  of  his  famous  escape 
over  the  border  in  1856.  The  details  of  his  concealment  and 
subsequent  escape  into  Illinois  have  long  remained  a  mystery. 
So  critical  have  been  the  affairs  of  the*country,  and  party- 
feeling  has  run  so  high  on  the  border  until  within  the  last  few 
years,  that  pages  of  interesting  history  have  necessarily  remained 


FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK.  FIFTH  AND  DELAWARE  STS 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  45 

unwritten,  for  fear  their   exposure  might  endanger  valuable 
lives. 

While  the  Congressional  Committee  was  in  session  at 
Lawrence  in  the  early  part  of  May,  1856,  Governor  Reeder  was 
summoned  to  appear  as  a  witness  before  the  court  then  in 
session  at  Lecompton.  Believing  this  to  be  a  mere  ruse  to  get 
the  Governor  away  from  the  Commission,  as  they  knew  him  to 
be  of  invaluable  service  thereto,  and  also  having  fears  for  his 
personal  safety,  the  Governor  refused  to  go  unless  sufficient 
assurance  were  given  that  his  life  would  be  protected,  and  that, 
he  should  be  at  liberty  to  again  return  to  the  Committee.  This, 
request  they  would  not  grant,  whereupon  the  Governor  declared 
in  emphatic  terms  that  "the  first  man  who  laid  his  hands  upon, 
him  did  it  at  the  peril  of  his  life."  A  crowd  had  collected  in 
the  room  in  which  the  Committee  was  in  session  and  where  all 
this  transpired;  and  some  excitement  was  manifested.  Finally 
the  U.  S.  Marshal,  who  was  one  of  a  number  sent  for  the  Gov- 
ernor, with  his  aids  left  for  Lecompton  again,  with  their  mission 
unaccomplished.  In  the  meantime  word  had  reached  Law- 
rence of  a  contemplated  invasion  of  the  Territory  by  the 
Missourians,  and  that  it  was  their  fixed  determination  to  kill 
Governor  Reeder  if  they  could  get  hold  of  him.  After  this 
affair  occurred  at  Lawrence,  Reeder,  feeling  his  life  to  be  in 
imminent  danger,  laid  plans  for  an  escape,  his  friends,  of 
course,  aiding  him.  For  a  day  or  two  he  was  secreted  in  a 
cabin  across  the  ravine  from  the  main  portion  of  the  town, 
when  he  suddenly  disappeared,  his  whereabouts  remaining  a 
mystery  to  all  except  a  few  of  his  accomplices  until  he  "turned 
up"  at  Chicago  about  the  last  of  May.     For  the  space  of  two 


46  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

or  three  weeks  his  history  was  involved  in  total  darkness.     It 
was  an  oft-repeated  query,  "Where  is  Reeder?"     The   Free 
State  party  reported  that  he  had  made  his  escape  through  Iowa. 
Some  surmised  that  he  had  gone  down  the  river  disguised  as  a 
woman,  others  that  he  crossed  Missouri  on  horseback,  and  the 
most  ridiculous  of  all  stories  was  that  he  had  been  sent  down 
the  river  in  a  coffin.     All  agreed  that  he  had  gone  to  parts  un- 
known, while  in  reality  he  lay  concealed  in  the  very  midst  of 
those  who  so  eagerly  sought  his  life  in  the  land  of  border 
ruffianism,  and  that,  too,  in  a  house  daily  threatened  with 
destruction  by  a  lawless  band.     Arrangements  had  been  made 
to  have  the  Governor  reach  Kansas  City  in  the  night  season 
and  there  remain  secreted  until  his  escape  could  be  safely 
effected.     On  the  10th  of  May  word  was  circulated  that  Gov- 
ernor Reeder  was  to  be  brought  to  Kansas  City  that  night  under 
protection  of  some  of  his  friends,  all  well  arm  ad.     On  Monday 
morning  about  four  o'clock  the  sound  of  carriage  wheels  was 
heard  in  the  street.     This  was  the  Lawrence  coach,  and  con- 
tained Governor  Reeder.     His  friends   met  him  in  the  hotel, 
and  he  was  secreted  in  a  remote  apartment.    Now  commenced 
'days  of  fearful  anxiety.     How  could  his  presence  be  best  con- 
cealed?    How  contrive  to  get  him  away  in  safety?  etc.,  were 
questions  of  the  gravest  importance.     The  first  room  in  which 
he  was  placed  was  found  to  be  unsafe,  as  the   room  opposite 
was  occupied  by  those  who  were  his  enemies.     Several  days 
passed  before  a  successful  means  of  escape  was  planned  for  the 
prisoner.     Disguised  as  an  Irish  "Paddy,"  with  pipe  in  mouth, 
,and  assuming  an  air  of  perfect  independence,  he  sallied  forth 
ifrom  his  place  of  concealment.     Reaching  the  river  success- 


m 
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(/) 

H 
m 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  47 

fully,  under  cover  of  darkness,  a  skiff  was  procured  and  the 
Governor  with  a  friend  drifted  down  the  Missouri.  Eventually 
they  were  picked  up  by  a  passing  steamer,  and,  after  several 
narrow  escapes  from  detection,  the  fugitive  Governor  reached 
Chicago  and  safety. 

Such  in  brief  have  been  some  of  the  scenes  once 
native  to  this  present  Western  metropolis,  and  they  are  not 
entirely  without  a  tinge  of  rude  romance.  Hers,  however,  is, 
after  all,  not  a  history  only  as  embodied  in  that  of  the 
great  State  at  whose  eastern  gate  she  stands.  Through  her 
streets  have  passed  and  vanished  the  white  tilts  of  ten  thousand 
emigrant  wagons  rolling  on  to  the  prairie  slopes  and  fertile  glades 
of  Kansas.  With  Kansas  City  the  pioneers  of  Kansas  have 
firmly  met  the  hardships  of  frontier  life  and  have  bravely  en- 
countered no  ordinary  obstacles.  Their  success  has  been  her 
prosperity.  Experience  with  both  has  established  skill.  Im- 
aginary political  lines  have  not  and  never  can  for  an  instant 
stay  the  laws  of  trade;  and  when  labor  shall  have  established 
in  Kansas  an  endurance  of  dominion  over  drought  and  storm 
and  insect,  there  will  be  a  harvest  of  abundance  to  be  enjoyed 
by  both  with  no  vestige  of  antagonism. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Effects  of  the  Civil  War  on  Kansas  City. — The  Outlook. — A  Prosperous 

Period. — The  Genesis  of  the  Metropolis. — 

Summary. 

There  were  trial  days  when  the  war  bore  darkly  on  the 
young  city.  The  results  of  early  enterprise  were  diverted  to 
other  channels.  But  the  dead  past  had  buried  its  dead,  and 
the  future  held  a  splendid  promise.  Perhaps  no  other  acqui- 
sition contributed  so  greatly  to  the  growth  of  Kansas  City  as 
the  building  of  the  great  railroad  and  tram  bridge  over  the 
Missouri  River.  The  year  1867  was  the  crisis.  The  cities 
of  St.  Joseph  and  Leavenworth  had  grown  strong  through 
the  patronage  of  the  Government  during  the  war,  while 
Kansas  City  had  been  surrounded  by  hostile  forces  and  its 
trade  utterly  cut  off  and  destroyed.  It  had  been  determined 
by  Eastern  capitalists  to  construct  over  the  river  a  thorough- 
fare for  concentrating  roads.  The  undertaking  was  then  re- 
garded by  many  able  engineers  to  be  purely  chimerical.  Vari- 
ous points  had  been  canvassed,  and  the  Board  of  Directors  at 
Boston  had  actually  voted  that  the  attempt  should  be  made  at 
Leavenworth,  when  a  dispatch  reached  them-  from  the  city  in 
Missouri,  asking  that  its  delegation  be  heard.  They  waited, 
and  the  resolution  was  changed.  The  stupendous  work  began 
and,  after  three  years  of  experiment  and  labor,  the  structure 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  49 

was  successfully  completed.  The  result  was  instantaneously 
followed  by  the  gathering  of  the  present  extensive  system  of 
railroads.  Kansas  City  at  once  became  the  money  center  of 
this  region,  the  depot  of  its  merchandise,  and  the  headquarters 
of  the  cattle  trade.  And  in  1876  this  most  important  conven- 
ience was  the  direct  means  of  changing  the  terminus  of  one  of 
the  most  valuable  Western  railroads  from  a  neighboring  city 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Kaw.  The  accomplishment  of  this  meas- 
ure was  due  to  the  decisive,  intelligent  action  of  a  few  well- 
known  business  men,  aided  and  abetted  by  the  united  assist- 
ance of  the  entire  populace.  In  the  struggling  years  of  the 
70's,  the  great  progress  of  Kansas  City  existed  largely  in 
anticipation.  It  was  upon  a  trade  yet  to  come  that  was  based 
the  price  of  real  estate.  Upon  projected  railroads  it  was 
presumed  that  commerce  would  be  extended.  Packing-houses 
unbuilt  were  to  handle  cattle  still  roaming  the  ranches  of  Texas. 
Unturned  prairie  sod  was  to  laugh  out  the  harvests  to  fill  the 
elevators  whose  timbers  were  yet  growing  in  the  forests  of 
Wisconsin.  Its  warehouses  still  rested  in  the  clay  of  ragged 
bluffs,  and  the  sand  still  lay  on  the  bars  of  the  Missouri.  It 
remained  for  the  years  of  the  panic,  the  drouth,  and  the  grass- 
hopper to  witness  the  realization  of  more  than  the  boldest  had 
ever  hoped.  In  the  early  days  of  those  terrible  years  it  oc- 
curred to  no  one  that  within  three  seasons  the  city  would  gain 
two  important  transcontinental  roads  from  the  demand  for 
greater  facilities  in  transportation. 

Within  the  same  period  came  that  demand  which 
necessitated  the  quadrupling  of  the  Stock  Yards  and  the  erec- 
tion of  a  Stock  Exchange.     That  building  now  completed,  with 


50  Kansas  CiTi*,  Missouri. 

all  the  modern  conveniences,  quite  equal  to  the  empty  stock 
palace  built  by  the  Vanderbilts  at  East  St.  Louis,  signalized 
the  location  of  headquarters  of  the  great  Southwestern  cattle 
trade  in  Kansas  City.  Commission  merchants  were  wont,  in 
scattering  offices,  to  carry  on  a  desultory  trade,  without  organ- 
ization or  combination;  but  it  at  once  became  clear  that  it  was 
no  longer  possible  to  meet  the  demands  of  traffic,  pressing  in 
volume,  without  metropolitan  facilities;  and  in  1876  the  first 
Stock  Exchange  was  erected  by  a  Board  of  Trade,  fully  organ- 
ized and  equipped — a  body  of  business  men  with  no  irons  to 
heat  and  no  horns  to  blow,  but  simply  driven  together  by  the 
magnitude  of  a  trade,  to  handle  which  they  were  compelled  to 
organize  for  mutual  counsel  and  suggestion. 

There  are  several  points  upon  which  little  stress  is  ordina- 
rily laid  that  are  very  important  in  indicating  the  permanence 
of  municipal  growth.  In  1875  and  as  late  as  1880  the  business 
men  of  Kansas  City  were  borrowers  and  rates  of  interest  were 
ludicrously  high,  twenty  per  cent  being  the  average.  This 
condition  was  soon  altered,  and  money  at  normal  rates  of 
interest  has  ever  since  been  at  the  disposal  of  the  Kansas  City 
merchant.  With  the  change  in  this  regard  were  two  others 
quite  as  important,  and  naturally  following  in  its  wake.  For 
several  years  after  the  war,  people  dwelt  in  boarding-houses 
and  about  the  "sky  parlors''  of  business  houses,  as  rents  were 
inordinately  high.  Little  rickety  residences  of  three  rooms, 
along  the  side  of  some  unfenced  declivity,  readily  fetched 
thirty  and  forty  dollars  a  month,  and  the  owner  regarded  him- 
self imposed  upon  if  his  tenant  wanted  glass  put  in,  plastering 
repaired,   or  the  cistern  mended;  while  a  tenant  house  with 


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Kansas  City,  Missouri.  51 

furnace,  water,  barn,  inside  blinds,  and  a  sodded  yard  only 
made  its  appearance  with  sidewalks,  macadam,  and  the  street 
railway.  Speculation  in  vacant  lots  ceased  at  the  same  time, 
while  homes  grew  plentier  and  more  cozy.  Every  year  that 
croaking  creature,  the  oldest  citizen,  found  it  more  difficult  to 
point  out  his  landmarks.  They  were  becoming  one  after 
another  veneered  over  by  the  encroachments  of  municipal 
growth,  although  several  years  were  to  pass  before  Kansas  City 
was  to  take  her  place  among  the  great  cities  of  the  nation.  She 
was  to  stand  for  the  present  in  the  practical  garb  of  labor,  with 
hands  stained  by  enterprising  toil.  She  could  have  no  place 
in  art  until  the  rough  block,  just  taken  from  the  quarry,  was 
hewn  into  shape  by  the  workman;  and  should  that  block  mean- 
while take  its  place  in  the  walls  of  the  manufactory  or  the 
market,  it  would  none  the  less  have  its  value  in  the  creation  of 
modern  power.  The  music  of  the  city  was  to  be,  through  a 
succession  of  seasons,  the  grind  of  the  heavy  wheel  and  the 
singing  of  busy  workshops.  Her  sole  art  was  to  be  in  gather- 
ing hardy  clans  from  a  soil  less  generous  to  the  tiller,  and  from 
places  of  toil  where  the  right  of  promotion  was  denied. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Situation  in  the  Early  30's.— The  First  Ferry.— The  Santa  F€  and 
Indian  Trade  Tend  to  Kansas  City. 

At  the  time  to  which  each  of  the  preceding  chapters 
brought  this  record,  to  1838,  the  entire  country  west  of  the 
Missouri  River  and  the  State  line  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  Indians.  The  tribes  on  these 
borders  were  all  in  receipt  of  large  annuities  from  the  Govern 
ment,  which  gave  rise  to  a  rich  and  profitable  trade  with  them. 
There  was  in  existence  a  trade  of  about  equal  volume  between 
this  western  border  and  southern  Mexico,  crossing  the  inter- 
vening Indian  country,  and  there  was  still  in  existence  a  large 
volume  of  the  old  French,  Indian,  and  fur  trade.  These  three 
elements  of  trade  gathered  at  this  angle  of  the  river  as  at  a 
focus,  for  the  reason  already  stated,  that  this  was  the  nearest 
point  toward  the  scene  of  each  of  them  that  could  be  reached 
by  water  transportation.  To  stop  lower  down  the  river,  or 
advance  higher,  were  alike  detrimental. 

At  that  time  Missouri  was  still  quite  a  sparsely  settled 
State.  The  western  half  of  it  had  been  settled  in  part  for  not 
exceeding  twenty  years,  and  the  tide  of  immigration  into  it, 
though  considered  large  in  those  times,  was  trifling  when  com- 
pared with  the  immense  movements  of  population  since  wit- 
nessed into  other  States.     What  is  called  the  "Platte   Pur- 


> 

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o 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  53 

chase,"  that  is,  the  territory  embraced  in  Platte,  Buchanan, 
Andrew,  Holt,  Nodaway,  and  Atchison  counties,  had  been 
added  to  the  State  in  1836;  the  State  line  prior  to  that  time 
having  run  directly  north  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kaw  River. 
This  country  was  not  opened  for  settlement  until  1837,  and 
though  its  settlement  was  rapid  for  those  days,  it  was  still  an 
unorganized  country. 

The  settlement  of  this  Platte  Purchase  had  an  important 
effect  upon  the  future  city.  Up  to  that  time  there  had  been 
no  ferry  across  the  river  here,  other  than  the  canoes  heretofore 
referred  to,  but  with  the  opening  of  this  new  country  there  was 
a  spasmodic  movement  into  it  from  the  south  side  of  the  river- 
To  accommodate  this  movement,  Peter  Roy,  a  son  of  Louis 
Roy,  who  settled  at  the  foot  of  Grand  Avenue  during  1826» 
established  a  flat-boat  ferry,  and  in  order  to  provide  better  ac- 
cess to  it  than  the  old  road  heretofore  mentioned,  he  cut  a  new 
road  through  the  woods  from  about  where  Walnut  Street  crosses 
Fifteenth  Street  down  by  the  present  junction  of  Main  and 
Delaware  streets,  and  thence  down  a  deep  ravine  which  fol- 
lowed down  Delaware  Street  to  Sixth,  thence  across  by  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Fifth  streets,  diagonally  across  the  Public 
Square  and  thence  to  the  river  a  little  east  of  the  present  line 
of  Grand  Avenue  from  Third  Street  down.  This  road  afterward 
became  a  factor  in  the  concentration  of  the  Indian  and  Santa 
Fe  trade  at  this  place.  The  ferry  thus  established  by  Mr. 
Roy  was  conducted  by  him  but  a  short  time,  when  he  sold  it 
to  James  H.  McGee,  who  then  lived  on  a  farm  south  of  Six- 
teenth Street.  McGee  sold  the  ferry  in  less  than  a  year  to 
Rev.  Isaac  McCoy,  of  whom  mention  has  already  been  made, 


54  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

who  conducted  it  until  1843,  wiien  he  sold  it  to  his  son,  John 
C.  McCoy.  Mr.  McCoy  subsequently  sold  a  half  interest  in  it 
0  John  Campbell,  and  in  1854  the  other  half  to  Messrs. 
Northrup  and  Chick. 

In  proper  sequence  came  the  steamers  up  the  Missouri, 
and  came  the  great  wagons  from  the  plains  with  their  slow 
lines  of  oxen.  Costly  bales  for  and  from  the  Mexicos  were 
handled  across  the  crowded  levees.  The  uncouth  greaser, 
with  his  jingling  spur  and  reverberating  lash,  shouted  his  mon- 
grel dialect,  squandered  his  gold-dust  in  a  day,  and  was  off 
again  on  his  long  trail  to  the  Southwest,  just  when  was  first 
heard  from  the  East  the  whistle  of  the  locomotive  and  the  jar 
of  the  heavy  train. 


Seconb  2)ecabe. 

1880  -  1890. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Regarding  the  Building  of  Cities. — Comparison  of  the  Causes  that  Led 

to  the  Founding  of  Mediseval  and  Modern  Cities. — History 

of  Modern   Cities   Largely  the  History  of 

Transportation  Facilities. 

The  first  efforts  of  mankind  to  build  cities  antedates  history, 
and  hence  nothing  very  definite  concerning  the  circumstances 
and  methods,  is,  or  can  be,  known;  but  in  the  earlier  ages  of 
the  historic  era,  when  the  race  was  divided  into  comparatively 
small  and  warring  factions,  and  afterward,  when  these  factions 
grew  to  be  powerful  but  not  less  warlike  nations,  cities  were 
located  by  kings  and  conquerors  and  built  by  the  people  under 
their  immediate  supervision  and  direction.  In  those  war-like 
ages  the  site  of  a  city  was  determined  mainly  by  the  advantages 
of  defense  of  a  spot  of  ground  selected,  though  the  contiguity 
of  fertile  and  pastoral  country  seems  not  to  have  been  entirely 
ignored;  hence,  cities  built  in  those  ages  were  at  once  the  cap- 
ital and  fortress  of  the  king,  while  immediately  surrounding  them 
was  a  country  capable  of  supporting  his  subjects.  No  regard 
seems  to  have  been  had,  however,  to  facilities  of  transportation, 
not  even  so  much  as  would  facilitate  military  operations,  while 
trade,  which  consisted  chiefly  of  exchange  between  the  people 
of  the  town  and  the  adjacent  domain,  was  entirely  ignored.  Ex- 
change between  the  people  of  different  dominions  existed  only  as 
pillage. 


58  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

In  earlier  periods,  liowever,  the  conquering  of  one  people  by 
another,  the  combination  of  different  cities  under  the  same  do- 
minion, and  the  necessities  of  military  operations  seem  to  have 
caused  more  attention  to  be  given  to  transportation  facilities  in 
the  location  of  cities.  This  was  after  the  adoption  of  methods 
for  utilizing  the  larger  streams  and  the  inland  seas;  and  the 
erection  of  cities  after  that  time  seems  to  have  been  determined 
by  the  three  principles  of  defensibility,  contiguity  of  productive 
country,  and  facilities  for  water  transportation,  and  hence  were 
usually  located  on  large  rivers  or  arms  of  the  sea.  At  least  it 
was  cities  so  located  that  in  this  period  were  most  prosperous 
and  became  most  famous. 

These  features  continued  to  be  the  ruling  factors  in  deter- 
mining the  location  of  cities  until  after  the  American  Revolu- 
tion. The  cities  of  the  United  States,  built  before  that  time, 
were  founded,  not  directly  by  royal  hands,  but  by  those  holding 
royal  patents  for  that  purpose,  and  the  same  features  seem  to 
have  been  observed  by  them  as  were  regarded  by  kings  and 
conquerors  for  many  previous  ages  in  the  old  world. 

Since  the  Revolution,  however,  cities  have  ceased  to  be 
founded  in  the  United  States  by  authority;  the  people  have  done 
it  themselves,  without  supervision  or  interference  from  govern- 
ment. The  sites  have  been  selected  by  individuals  or  com- 
panies; the  grounds  staked  off,  and  the  lots  offered  for  sale. 
This  done,  the  balance  rested  with  the  people;  and  though  the 
number  of  cities  founded  in  this  country  west  of  the  Allegheny 
Mountains  is  almost  infinite,  each  of  which  was  expected  by  its 
founders  to  rapidly  become  a  great  emporium,  the  people  have 
built  but  few.     The  popular  choice  among  the  many  rivals  that 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  59 

have  presented  themselves  in  every  section  has  been  deter- 
mined by  principies  as  well  ascertained  as  those  of  old,  and  as 
easy  of  definition. 

Defensibility  has  ceased  to  be  a  consideration,  for  in  the 
interior  of  the  United  States  we  have  had  no  foe  that  made  it 
necessary.  Contiguity  to  fertile  country  can  scarcely  be  said 
to  have  exerted  an  influence,  for  this  country  is  all  fertile. 
Facilities  for  transportation,  however,  have  exerted  a  very  great 
and  Controlling  influence.  Having  never  been  a  warlike  people, 
and  having  a  country  of  wonderful  and  varied  productiveness, 
the  Americans  are,  of  necessity,  a  producting  and  trading 
people.  The  chief  consideration  to  such  a  people  is  transpor- 
tation, and  the  city,  or  the  proposed  city,  possessing  this  feature 
in  the  highest  degree,  be  it  wagon  roads,  water-courses  with 
keel-  or  steam-boats,  or  railroads,  will  be  most  prosperous;  and 
the  one  that  by  such  means,  each  in  its  age,  has  accommodated 
the  country  farthest  into  the  interior  has  commanded  the 
widest  extent  of  trade.  The  history  of  interior  cities  is  but 
a  history  of  the  development  of  transportation  in  its  different 
forms.  Where  we  find  that  a  place  now  almost  obsolete  was 
once  more  promising  than  its  rivals,  we  will  likely  find  that  it 
had  the  best  transportation  of  the  kind  then  employed,  but  that 
in  some  subsequent  phase  some  rival  took  the  advantage  and 
the  lead.  Indeed,  there  are  but  few,  besides  the  city  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Kaw,  that  from  the  first  have  held  the  advantage 
over  rivals  in  all  phases  of  transportation  development,  or  that 
stand  to-day  pre-eminent  in  this  regard. 

The  importance  of  facilities  for  transportation  in  deter- 
mining the  location  and  prosperity  of  cities  cannot  be  better 


60  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

indicated  than  by  a  brief  reference  to  the  character,  vocation, 
and  habits  of  the  class  of  men  who  determined  the  location  of 
all  our  important  Western  cities,  though  they  did  not  actually 
build  any  of  them.  This  refers  to  the  pioneer  traders,  trappers, 
and  hunters  who  preceded  the  march  of  civilization  from  the 
Atlantic  coast — a  class  now  rapidly  disappearing  into  tradition 
and  history,  because  the  wilderness,  and  the  wild  animals  they 
loved  to  hunt  are  gone,  and  the  red  men,  their  companions, 
associates,  and  foes,  are  rapidly  going.  Daniel  Boone  was  a 
type  of  the  American  element  in  this  class,  and  also  of  the 
hunters  who  constituted  a  part  of  it,  but  most  of  them  appear 
to  have  been  of  French  origin  or  descent.  They  were  divided 
into  three  distinct  classes — hunters  and  trappers,  traders,  and 
voyageurs.  This  latter  class  were  always  in  the  employ  of  the 
traders,  and  it  was  their  business  to  people  the  water-craft 
which  the  traders  employed  in  transportation.  The  hunters  and 
trappers  were  sometimes  independent  and  sometimes  in  the 
employ  of  the  traders.  They  penetrated  far  into  the  wilds  and 
explored  the  unknown  regions.  They  were  the  true  pioneers. 
The  furs  and  skins  procured  by  them  were  sold  to  the  traders 
or  procured  for  them.  The  traders,  originally  independent,  but 
subsequently  under  the  direction  of  the  great  fur  companies, 
established  posts  far  into  the  interior  of  the  wilderness,  to  which 
they  transported  articles  suitable  for  traffic  with  the  Indians, 
and  such  supplies  as  hunters  and  trappers  wanted,  and  at  which 
they  purchased  robes,  skins,  and  furs,  which  they  transported  in 
turn  to  the  borders  of  civilization.  Irving  gives  an  excellent 
history  of  this  trade,  and  Fenimore  Cooper,  if  his  treatment  of 
it  in  fiction  was  more  imaginative,  has  immortalized  it  in  a 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  61 

picture  that  is  no  less  vivid  than  true.  The  men  engaged  in  it 
were  a  brave,  adventurous  class,  for  whom  the  wilderness  and 
association  with  wild  animals  and  wild  men  possessed  more 
charms  than  civilization.  With  a  few  articles  of  traffic,  a  gun 
and  perhaps  a  few  tools  for  constructing  traps,  they  pushed  their 
way  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  miles  into  the  untrodden 
wilderness,  not  knowing  what  moment  they  might  fall  in  with 
some  unknown  ferocious  animal  or  some  band  of  hostile  sav- 
ages. They  put  their  canoes  and  rafts  into  streams  and  followed 
their  course,  not  knowing  to  what  falls  or  dangers  they  might 
lead.  Their  lives  were  a  perpetual  vigil,  and  they  may  be  said 
to  have  lived  with  their  finger  on  the  trigger.  The  traders, 
mostly  French,  employed  trappers  as  well  as  traded  with  them 
and  the  Indians,  and  as  fur  animals  were  chiefly  found  alon^ 
streams,  their  posts  were  usually  located  on  them  or  near  their 
confluence.  The  latter  were  deemed  the  most  desirable  loca- 
tions, as  they  gave  access  to  larger  districts  of  country  by  keel- 
boats  and  pirogues,  and  hence  more  easily  commanded  a  larger 
trade.  Their  only  means  of  transportation  was  packing  on  their 
own  backs,  or  on  the  backs  of  horses,  and  light  water-craft 
which  could  be  propelled  in  the  rivers  with  pikes.  The  mani- 
fest great  superiority  of  the  latter  method  for  conducting  an 
extensive  trade  is  sufficient  explanation  of  their  preference  for 
the  confluence  of  streams,  as  the  latter  gave  them  access  to 
more  than  one  valley  and  thus  increased  possibilities  for  trade. 
This  explains,  also,  why  the  vicinity  of  Kansas  City  became  so 
attractive  to  them  when  they  came  to  know  of  it;  for  from  here 
they  had  direct  access  to  St.  Louis  and  had  also  good  com- 
mand of  the  Upper  Missouri,  Kansas,  and  Platte  River  valleys. 


62  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

Thus  it  has  been  made  clear  that  the  item  of  paramount  im- 
portance, and  the  prime  reason  for  the  original  settlement  as 
well  as  the  subsequent  prosperity  of  Kansas  City  as  a  metrop- 
olis has  been  because  of  its  superior  transportational  facilities. 
This  fact  has  ever  been  patent  to  the  mind  of  the  merchant  in 
Kansas  City,  and  is  an  advantage  that  has  been  jealously 
guarded  and  fostered  since  the  charter  of  the  city  was  written. 


■c^-.. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Population  of  Kansas  City  in  1830.— The  Gould  System  of  Railroads. — 

Fight  between  the  Union  Pacific  and  Kansas  Pacific  Roads. — 

Combined  as  One  Road. — Building  of  the  First 

Custom-House  and  Post-Office. 

During  the  first  years  subsequent  to  the  Civil  War  the  little 
city  enjoyed  a  slow  but  healthy  growth,  and  in  the  early  '80 's 
had  a  population  of  nearly  60,000.  It  was  about  this  time  that 
Mr,  Jay  Gould  first  became  interested  in  lines  of  road  leading 
into  Kansas  City,  since  when  his  operations  led  to  many  lively 
manipulations.  This  was  the  genesis:  Mr.  Gould  was 
the  chief  owner  of  the  Union  Pacific,  which,  by  its  charter, 
was  required  to  pro-rate  in  equal  terms  with  the  Kansas  Pacific 
for  California  business — a  thing  it  had  always  refused  to  do. 
T.  F.  Cakes,  Esq.,  who  had  for  many  years  been  general 
freight  agent  of  the  Kansas  Pacific,  had  now  become  its  gen- 
eral superintendent,  and  in  that  position  was  able  to  give  the 
company  most  efficient  aid  in  its  long  struggle  with  the  Union 
Pacific  for  its  charter  rights.  Early  in  the  year  he  got  Mr. 
Chaffee,  of  Colorado,  to  introduce  into  Congress  a  bill  to  com- 
pel the  Union  Pacific  to  respect  the  rights  of  the  Kansas 
Pacific,  and  a  large  public  meeting  held  in  Kansas  City 
gave  it  strong  endorsement,  and  memorialized  Congress  on 
the  subject.  Similar  action  was  taken  at  other  places,  with 
the  result  that  the  bill  was  reported  favorably  in  March,  with  a 


64  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

good  prospect  of  its  becoming  a  law.  Mr.  Gould  could  not 
defeat  the  measure  by  opposing  it;  hence,  in  April,  he  sent 
agents  to  St.  Louis,  who  succeeded  in  buying  a  controlling  in- 
terest in  the  Kansas  Pacific,  and  then  withdrew  the  opposition 
of  that  company. 

About  this  time  a  proposition  was  made  by  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  old  Chamber  of  Commerce  to  revive  that  organiza- 
tion, but  the  scheme  was  modified  in  so  far  as  a  Committee  of 
Commerce  of  the  Board  of  Trade  was  appointed  in  its  stead. 
One  of  its  first  acts  was  to  memorialize  Congress  on  the  im- 
provement of  the  Missouri  River.  Soon  after,  and  through  the 
efforts  of  this  Committee  of  Commerce,  the  Government  sent 
its  Commissioners  to  locate  a  custom  house-and  post-office, 
and  after  acquainting  themselves  with  the  views  of  the  people 
and  examining  the  different  sites  offered,  they  accepted  the 
corner  of  Ninth  and  Walnut  streets.  The  purchase  price  was 
$8,500  and  the  work  of  constructing  the  building  was  at  once 
begun.  In  1880  the  post-office  business  grew  from  $98,948  to 
$123,953.09.  During  this  year  the  real  estate  transfers  were 
$1,943,350  in  excess  of  those  of  1879,  and  the  cost  of  build- 
ings erected  was  about  $2,200,000.  The  trade  of  the  city- in 
1 880  covered  substantially  the  same  territory  in  Missouri,  Iowa, 
Kansas,  Nebraska,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  and  Texas,  as  in 
former  years,  but  was  considerably  extended  into  New  Mexico, 
along  the  extension  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe 
Railroad.  Little  effort  was  made  to  extend  it  in  any  direction 
for  the  reason  that  the  territory  previously  supplied  from 
Kansas  City  caused  such  demands  upon  merchants  as  to  tax 
their  resources  to  the  utmost.     Kansas  City  still  held  her  place 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  65- 

as  the  leading  Western  market  for  stock  cattle  as  well  as- 
beeves — the  place  to  which  farmers  and  feeders  of  surround- 
ing States,  as  far  east  as  Indiana,  resorted  for  their  supplies. 
One  new  feature  of  this  trade  introduced  during  the  year  was 
the  purchase  of  cattle  for  direct  export  to  Europe.  Manu- 
facturing, yet  in  its  infancy,  was  beginning  to  take  definite- 
shape  and  to  command  increased  attention.  By  the  opening 
of  mines  in  every  direction  the  coal  trade  was  assuming  great 
prominence  at  the  beginning  of  this  decade,  and  the  continued 
developement  of  this  industry  has  made  it  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant sources  of  revenue  with  which  the  modern  metropolis 
of  Kansas  City  has  been  blessed. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Drought  of  1881. — Did  Not  Prevent  Continued  Increase  in  Trade. — 
Great  Wave  of  Prosperity  during  the  Next  Few  Years. 

The  drought  of  the  summer  of  1881,  wide-spread  and  in- 
jurious as  it  was,  was  not  sufficient  to  materially  damage  the 
trade  of  Kansas  City,  only  reducing  the  percentage  of  increase. 
Merchants  penetrated  into  more  remote  districts  in  Colorado, 
Arizona,  Texas,  Nebraska,  and  Iowa  than  they  had  entered 
before,  with  profitable  results.  The  trade  of  the  country  sur- 
rounding Kansas  City  showed  an  augmented  tendency  to  con- 
centrate here.  The  average  percentage  of  increase  in  leading 
lines  of  trade  was  47.26.  The  percentage  of  increase  in  popu- 
lation was  27.17;  in  taxable  wealth,  29.44;  in  internal  reve- 
nue collections,  53.32;  in  post-office  receipts,  26.28;  in  real 
estate  transfers,  69.71  ;  and  in  the  capital  invested  in  new 
buildings,  17.60.  The  buildings  erected  were  of  a  better  class 
than  those  erected  in  any  preceding  year.  Maintaining  its 
reputation  as  the  leading  beef -packing  city  of  the  United  States, 
Kansas  City  this  year  took  rank  as  second  in  summer  packing 
of  hogs  and  third  in  winter  packing.  There  were  some  bank 
establishment  changes,  increase  of  capital  and  unimportant 
withdrawals  from  business.  The  increase  in  clearings  from 
$101,330  in  1880  to  $136,800  in  1881  shows  how  prosperous 
was  the  interest. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  67 

The  season  of  1 882  was  very  favorable  for  all  those  lines 
of  production  and  industry  in  which  the  people  adjacent  to 
Kansas  City  were  engaged.  With  success  in  live  stock  pro- 
duction, except  in  hogs,  and  abundant  harvests,  the  country 
could  not  be  otherwise  than  prosperous,  and  soon  overcame  the 
financial  stringency  resulting  from  the  short  crops  of  the  pre- 
ceding year,  and  which  curtailed  Kansas  City's  trade  during 
the  first  half  of  this  year  to  an  aggregate  less  than  for  a  cor- 
responding period  in  1881.  After  harvest,  however,  the  situa- 
tion was  entirely  changed.  There  were  extensions  of  trade  also, 
and  a  growth  of  trade  in  localities  penetrated  the  previous  year 
by  Kansas  City  railroads.  For  the  whole  number  of  cities,  the 
clearings  of  which  were  reported,  there  was  a  decrease  of  4.3 
per  cent,  while  for  Kansas  City  there  was  an  increase  of  43.5 
per  cent. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  in  1882-83  the  country  from  which 
Kansas  City  derives  its  trade  had  an  accesssion  to  its  popula- 
tion of  fully  500,000.  There  was  an  increase  in  its  assessed 
valuation  of  nearly  $100,000,000,  and  a  large  increase  in  its 
commercial  property.  Agriculture  was  equally  prosperous  in 
Kansas,  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  Nebraska.  This  prosperity  served 
as  the  basis  of  a  remarkable  expansion  in  Kansas  City  in  1883. 
The  compilers  of  the  Directory  estimated  an  increase  of  popu- 
lation of  12,733,  swelling  the  aggregate  to  93.733.  Building 
was  active,  there  being  1,172  permits  issued  by  the  city  engi- 
neer. There  was  also  much  building  done  on  additions  out  of 
the  city  limits  The  business  of  the  post-office,  which  bears  a 
direct  proportion  to  the  city's  growth,  amounted  to  $  1 97,605. 13, 
an  excess  of  nearly  $20,000  over  the  business  of   1882.     The 


68  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

real  estate  transfers,  without  any  marked  changes  in  values, 
were  increased  $288,661.  The  grain  trade  amounted  to 
$22,047,946  as  against  $15,250,917  in  1882.  The  live  stock 
trade  was  about  $50,000  heavier.  January  1,  1883,  the 
aggregate  capital  and  surplus  of  the  banks  of  the  city  was 
$2,100,000  ;  the  deposits  footed  $7,275,000,  and  the  loans  and 
discounts  $5,517,000.  January  1,  1874,  these  items  were 
respectively  $3,000,000,  $8,935,41 1.  and  $7,103,228.  The 
jobbing  trade  in  different  lines  increased  from  15  to  50  per  cent. 
The  increase  in  the  clearings  of  1 883  over  these  of  1 882  ap- 
proximated 23  per  cent. 

Despite  a  wide-spread  depression  in  business  circles  toward 
the  latter  part  of  the  year,  causing  so  much  distress  as  to  at- 
tract the  profound  attention  of  statesmen  and  publicists,  the 
developing  state  of  the  country  and  the  increase  of  trade  re- 
sulting therefrom,  in  1884,  not  only  maintained  an  increasing 
volume  of  exchanges  in  Kansas  City  and  an  increase  of  clear- 
ings of  37.5  per  cent,  but  insured  the  rapid  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  city.  The  population  statistics,  as  gleaned  from 
the  city  Directory,  show  an  increase,  June  1,  1884,  of  19,693 
over  June  10,  1883.  The  business  of  the  post-office  gained 
$29,543.92.  The  transfers  of  real  estate  for  the  year  were 
larger  than  in  1883  by  $3,518,604.  The  number  of  building 
permits  increased  949,  and  the  amount  of  money  invested  in 
new  buildings  $979,493,  while  the  city's  taxable  wealth  was 
augmented  $7,144,685.  At  the  same  time  the  municipal 
debt  was  decreased  $50,073.50,  and  the  rate  of  taxation  was 
reduced.  The  suffering  in  trade  and  collections  was  not 
serious,  and  failures  were  few  and  unimportant. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  69 

Owing  to  the  exceptional  vigor  of  the  country  with  which 
Kansas  City  trades,  incident  to  its  newness,  and  the  influx  of 
capital  and  immigration,  and  the  development  of  natural 
resources,  it  had  suffered  less  from  the  recent  depression  than 
places  differently  located.  The  progress  in  1874  had  been 
very  satisfactory,  and  that  in  1875  was  still  more  so,  except  in 
particular  interests  affected  by  local  causes.  The  clearing- 
house statement  is  usually  accepted  as  the  best  index  to  the 
general  condition  of  trade.  The  percentage  of  increase  for 
the  years  1880-85  inclusive,  that  of  each  year  based  on  the 
preceding  year,  is  thus  shown:  1880,  48.40;  1881,  32.90; 
1882,  43.50;  1883,  23.00;  1884,  37.50;  1885,  26.18;  average 
for  six  years,  35.24.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  other  city  in  the 
United  States  could  show  as  good  a  record  for  these  or  any 
other  consecutive  six  years,  and  certain  that  most  other  cities 
did  not  show  nearly  so  good  a  record.  The  population  in- 
creased from  113,736  in  1884  to  128,474  in  1885,  while  the 
assessed  valuation,  that  represents  not  over  one-third  the  real 
valuation,  increased  from  $33,900,000  in  1884  to  about 
$39,000,000  in  1885.  The  number  of  new  buildings  erected 
during  the  year,  for  which  permits  were  issued  was  2,914, 
costing  $5,758,629,  as  against  2,121,  costing  $3,562,788,  in 
1884,  and  1,192,  costing  $2,583,295,  in  1883.  The  cash 
receipts  at  the  post-office  increased  from  $227,149.05  in  1884 
to  $233,862.95  in  1885.  The  transfers  of  real  estate 
amounted  to  $17,774,700  as  against  $12,120,840  in  1874, 
and  $8,601,936  in  1883.  The  city  debt  was  lessened 
$80,128.25. 

During  a  somewhat  protracted  period  the  record  of  Kansas 


70  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

City  had  been  one  of  progress.  Space  permits  only  of  the 
showing  of  general  results.  All  the  details  concentrating  to 
the  grand  total  cannot  be  given  here  nor  can  many  important 
enterprises  of  various  kinds  be  mentioned. 

Kansas  City  having  long  since  distanced  all  local  rivals 
for  the  trade  of  the  States  and  Territories  lying  to  the  west 
and  southwest,  both  her  own  people  and  the  people  of  the  East 
were  inspired  with  confidence  in  her  future  growth  and  im- 
portance, so  that  with  the  release  of  money  for  the  purposes 
of  enterprise  and  investments  she  was  one  of  the  first  places 
in  the  country  to  feel  the  improvement  and  has  profited  by  it 
to  an  extent  unequaled  by  any  other  city.  Her  trade  was 
largely  increased  by  the  revival  in  the  territory  which  she  had 
previously  supplied  and  for  which  she  had  been  the  principal 
market,  and  new  trade  began,  in  1886,  to  pour  in  upon  her 
merchants  from  all  quarters.  The  people  had  inaugurated  a 
number  of  local  enterprises  of  considerable  magnitude  and 
soon  inaugurated  others.  Notable  among  them  is  the  system 
of  cable  and  motor  railways,  which,  when  completed,  will  be 
the  most  extensive  and  effective  system  of  rapid  transit  in  the 
world.  The  effect  upon  the  city  of  this  improvement  of  gen- 
eral business,  the  projection  and  completion  of  so  many  cable 
and  motor  railway  lines  and  so  much  new  railroad  centering 
here,  has  been  to  attract  very  wide  attention  to  Kansas  City  as 
destined  soon  to  take  high  rank  among  the  commercial  centers 
of  the  country.  Money  was  sent  for  investment  from  all  parts 
of  the  country,  and  the  land  for  two  or  three  miles  around  the 
city  was  platted  and  sold  and  much  of  it  built  on.  Property, 
in  the  business  part  of  the  city,  advanced  in  value  fully  one 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  71 

hundred  per  cent  within  the  two  years  ending  January  1,  1888, 
and  residence  property,  favorably  located,  much  more,  while 
some  unimproved  property  advanced  more  than  one  thousand 
per  cent.  The  real  estate  transactions,  for  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1885,  aggregated  $11,261,781.  The  aggregate  for 
the  year  ending  June  30,  1886,  was  $39,181,732.  For  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1887,  it  was  $88,302,637.  While  much 
of  this  business  was  undoubtedly  speculative,  it  had  a  substan- 
tial basis  in  the  increasing  demand  for  homes  and  business 
places,  for  the  population  increased  from  128,476  in  June, 
1885,  reckoned  on  the  basis  of  three  and  one-half  to  the  name 
in  the  Directory,  to  165,000  in  June,  1887,  reckoned  on  the 
basis  of  three  to  the  name.  The  number  of  new  houses  built 
in  1886  was  4,054,  costing  $10,393,207.  During  the  year 
ending  June  30,  1887,  5,889  were  built,  costing  $12,839,868. 
The  assessed  valuation  of  property  in  the  city  (about  forty  per 
cent  of  its  real  valuation)  increased  from  $31,678,520  in 
1885  to  $53,017,290  in  1887,  without  any  new  valuation  of 
real  estate.  The  post-office  receipts  advanced  from  $233,- 
862.95  in  1885  to  $311,949.09  for  the  fiscal  year  of  1887. 
That  this  rapid  growth  was  sustained  by  a  corresponding  pecu- 
niary increase  was  shown  in  the  transactions  of  the  clearing- 
house, which  from  $204,333,144  during  the  year  ending  June 
30,  1885,  increased  to  $353,895,458  during  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1887.  Early  in  1887  Kansas  City  passed  New 
Orleans  in  the  magnitude  of  her  clearings  and  took  rank  as 
the  tenth  city  in  the  United  States,  only  New  York,  Boston, 
Chicago,  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco,  St.  Louis,  Baltimore, 
Cincinnati,  and  Pittsburgh,  in  the  order  named,  exceeding  her 


72  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

in  this  respect,  and  at  the  present  ratio  of  increase  she  will 
soon  pass  Pittsburgh  and  Cincinnati.  Into  the  States  and 
Territories  commercially  tributary  to  Kansas  City  is  now 
pouring  the  accumulated  surplus  wealth  of  the  East  and  within 
their  borders  are  settling  many  of  the  energetic  and  enterpris- 
ing people  of  this  country  and  Europe.  With  the  construction 
of  only  such  lines  of  railroad  as  this  new  population  demands, 
and  the  development  of  the  country  incident  thereto,  the  city 
and  its  trade  must  continue  to  increase  at  its  present  rapid 
rate. 

The  National  Exposition,  the  Priests  of  Pallas  and  trades 
parades,  and  the  visit  of  President  and  Mrs.  Cleveland,  in 
the  fall  of  1 887 ,  were  potent  factors  in  attracting  widespread 
attention  to  Kansas  City  and  drawing  thither  many  thousands 
of  people  from  the  East,  the  South  and  other  sections  of  the 
country,  who  thus  became  impressed  with  a  sense  of  its  great 
importance  and  its  manifest  destiny.  These  influences  stim- 
ulated Eastern  investment  and  accomplished  much  toward  in- 
suring the  city's  uninterrupted  progress  through  the  succeeding 
winter.  Another  potent  influence  was  exerted  through  the 
work  of  the  Merchants'  and  Manufacturers'  Bureau,  which  did 
much  in  the  way  of  inducing  capitalists  to  make  Kansas  City 
the  base  of  their  operations  in  trade  and  manufacture.  Else- 
where more  detailed  reference  to  these  several  subjects  is 
given. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Effects  of  the  War. — The  First  Public  Schools. — Other   Educational 
Interests  and  Institutions  of  this  Decade. 

Some  years  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion  a  law  was 
enacted  appropriating  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  revenue  of 
the  State  of  Missouri  annually  to  the  establishment  and  main- 
tenance of  public  schools.  The  measure  met  with  powerful, 
and  in  some  sections  popular  opposition,  but  for  a  season  its 
beneficial  effects  upon  the  cause  of  public  education  were 
clearly  recognizable.  But  when  the  war  came,  political  rancor 
and  the  conflicting  interests  of  different  classes  of  the  people 
exerted  a  malign  influence  upon  this  institution,  which  in  time 
almost  blotted  it  out,  for  it  is  a  fact,  to  which  old  residents 
refer  with  regret,  that  until  after  the  close  of  the  war  the  cause 
of  education  in  Kansas  City  was  practically  abandoned 

The  school  system  of  Missouri  had  been  completely 
destroyed  by  the  war,  and  the  people  were  slow  to  reorganize 
it;  but  in  1 865  the  Legislature  passed  laws  for  the  organization 
of  schools,  specifying  the  modus  operandi  of  levying  and  collect- 
ing taxes  for  the  necessary  buildings  and  other  expenses.  On 
the  15th  and  18th  of  March,  1866,  the  Legislature  enacted 
laws  providing  for  the  establishment  of  schools  in  cities,  towns, 
and  villages,  with  special  privileges,  which  were  approved 
March  19th.  Under  their  provisions  the  Board  of  Education  of 
Kansas  City  was  organized  August  1,  1867,  with  the  following 


74  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

membership:  W.  E.  Sheffield,  president;  H.  C.  Kumpf,  sec- 
retary; J.  A.  Bachman,  treasurer;  E.  H.  Allen,  T.  B.  Lester, 
E.  H.  Spalding.  Immediately  after  the  organization  of  the 
board,  Mr.  Kumpf  retired,  and  Mr.  A.  A.  Bainbridge  was  chosen 
to  fill  the  vacancy  thus  occasioned. 

At  this  time  there  was  not  a  public  school  building  in  the 
city,  and  the  entire  educational  system  was  in  a  state  of  pro- 
voking disorganization,  there  being  absolutely  no  school  accom- 
modations and  not  a  dollar  available  for  school  purposes.  The 
only  buildings  that  could  be  secured  for  school  purposes  were 
church  basements,  old  unoccupied  dwellings,  and  tenantless 
storerooms.  The  board  had  before  it  an  almost  Herculean  task, 
but  the  members  were  of  one  mind  in  their  determination  to 
give  Kansas  City  the  best  possible  educational  facilities  in  the 
briefest  possible  time.  Such  accommodations  as  could  be  se- 
cured were  rented  and  the  schools  were  formally  opened  in 
rented  rooms  in  October,  1867.  They  were  scantily  provided 
with  necessary  furniture  and  appliances,  but  for  the  most  part 
the  teachers  were  earnest  and  efficient,  and  the  ball  of  educa- 
tional progress  was  set  rolling  with  a  momentum  that  was  re- 
assuring to  every  solicitous  friend  of  the  cause.  The  number 
of  children  of  the  school  age  in  the  city  at  that  time  was  only 
2,150.  Sixteen  teachers  were  employed  during  the  year.  It 
is  greatly  to  be  lamented,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  historian 
of  this  interesting  period,  that  no  adequate  statistics  of  these 
pioneer  public  schools  are  to  be  found  in  the  records  of  the 
s'chool  board,  Mr.  J.  B.  Bradley  performed  the  dual  duties  of 
superintendent  and  teacher  of  the  Central  School. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  city  brought  a  large  addition  to  the 


FIRE  DEPARTMENT  HEADQUARTERS. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  75 

school  population,  but  not  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  val- 
uation of  taxable  property,  and  hence  the  advancement  in  the 
finances  for  school  purposes  did  not  keep  pace  with  its  neces- 
sities. The  number  of  school  children  in  1868  was  3,287,  an 
increase  of  fifty-three  per  cent  over  the  enumeration  of  1867. 
But,  notwithstanding  these  discouragements,  the  zeal  of  the 
school  board  was  unabated.  Sites  were  purchased,  bonds 
issued,  and  school-houses  erected  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Be- 
fore the  close  of  1868  three  school-houses  were  ready  for 
occupancy  and  schools  were  opened  in  all  of  them. 

The  school  year  of  1868-69,  with  the  exception  of  improve- 
ments in  buildings  and  the  purely  business  proceedings  of  the 
board,  is  not  statistically  recorded,  the  superintendent  having, 
made  no  report;  but  it  is  known  that  the  schools  were  taught 
and  they  progressed  in  a  general  way.  The  Central  School 
was  provided  with  a  house  purchased  in  1869,  and  Lincoln 
School  was  opened  (on  Ninth  Street)  in  November  of  that  year. 
The  organization  of  the  board  September,  1869,  was  as  follows: 
W.  E.  Sheffield,  president;  A.  A.  Bainbridge,  secretary;  James 
Craig,  treasurer;  T.  B.  Lester,  Patrick  Shannon,  J.  V.  C 
Karnes.  Prior  to  the  organization  in  September,  Prof.  John 
R.  Phillips  was  elected  superintendent,  and  he  served  contin- 
uously until  August,  1874. 

The  work  of  the  schools  was  now  moulded  into  definite 
form.  Classification  and  grading,  which  had  been  sadly  neg- 
lected, were  enforced  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  term,  and 
teachers  were  required  to  adhere  as  closely  as  possible  to  the 
tabulated  courses  of  study.  The  history  of  the  United  States 
and  the  elements  of  physiology  were  now  taught  for  the  first 


76  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

time  since  the  organization  of  the  schools;  the  number  of  pu- 
pils was  larger,  the  attendance  more  regular  and  punctual,  the 
discipline  more  healthy  and  judicious,  and  the  instruction  more 
exact  and  thorough  than  during  any  preceding  year.  The 
Lathrop  school-house  was  completed  in  March,  1870.  The 
Morse  and  Benton  school-houses  were  erected  in  1870  and 
enlarged  in  1 87 1 ,  the  Woodland  school-house  was  finished  and 
opened  in  November,  1871. 

No  report  of  the  schools  was  published  from  1872  to  1874, 
but  the  superintendent  preserved  enough  statistics  to  indicate 
that  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  schools  was  gaining 
ground,  and  opposition  was  rapidly  dying  out,  and  that  prog- 
ress in  both  the  quantity  and  quality  of  educational  work  was 
continuous. 

In  1873-74  the  board  was  changed  by  the  retirement  of 
Messrs.  W.  E.  Sheffield  and  Joseph  Field  and  the  election  of 
Major  Henry  A.  White  and  Mr.  C.  A.  Chace,  the  first  named 
of  whom  was  chosen  president. 

In  July,  1874,  Superintendent  John  R.  Phillips  resigned, 
and  four  months  later  he  died.  He  had  found  the  schools 
unorganized,  ungraded,  and  each  independent  of  the  others. 
During  his  five  years'  superintendency  he  addressed  himself 
diligently  to  their  improvement  and  the  reformation  of  abuses 
that  had  crept  into  them.  A  course  of  study,  such  as  had  the 
endorsement  of  the  foremost  educators,  was  adopted,  embrac- 
ing seven  years  for  the  ward  schools,  and  four  years  for  the 
high  school  department.  At  the  beginning  of  his  term  of 
service  there  was  no  unity  in  the  work.  As  an  organizer,  he 
planned  and  executed  well,  and  his  administration  was  emi- 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  77 

nently  successful.  Mr.  J.  M.  Greenwood  was  at  once  elected 
superintendent,  to  succeed  Mr.  Phillips,  and  has  served  contin- 
uously to  the  present  time.  Upon  assuming  the  duties  of  the 
position  he  arranged  a  syllabus  of  the  course  of  study  to  be 
employed,  as  a  guide  to  the  teachers,  by  the  use  of  which 
the  work  was  systematized  in  all  the  grades.  Special  attention 
was  given  to  language  and  composition  exercises,  and  teachers 
were  given  special  drill  in  phonic  analysis,  as  a  means  of  reme- 
dying the  defects  in  reading.  At  the  monthly  meeting  of  the 
teachers,  how  to  teach  each  branch  in  the  ward  schools,  and 
how  to  adapt  the  instruction  to  the  capacity  of  the  pupils,  were 
fully  explained.  A  plan  which  had  previously  prevailed,  of  pro- 
moting upon  the  final  examination  only,  was  discontinued,  and 
promotions  were  made  upon  the  mean  average  of  the  written 
examinations,  the  daily  work  and  the  daily  deportment  record, 
and  self-control  became  an  important  factor  in  the  school 
management. 

The  library  now  contained  3,000  volumes,  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  librarian,  in  the  person  of  Mrs.  Carrie  W.  Judson, 
was  found  necessary.  The  total  number  of  graduates  to  date 
had  been  136.  A  tax  was  voted  to  be  expended  in  making 
additions  to  the  Benton,  Morse,  and  Lincoln  schools,  and  in 
erecting  a  new  building,  to  be  known  as  the  Chace  School,  and 
the  purchase  of  ground  for  a  new  school-building  in  the  south- 
western part  of  the  city,  and  the  erection  of  a  house  thereon 
should  the  fund  voted  be  sufficient.  The  school  term  was 
shortened  from  forty  to  thirty-six  weeks,  it  being  deemed  injur- 
ious to  the  health  of  young  children  to  compel  them  to  attend 
school  during  such  a  protracted  term. 


78  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

The  Board  of  Education  was  organized  in  April,  1882,  with 
R.  L.  Yeager  as  president,  Henry  C.  Kumpf  as  secretary,  and 
E.  L.  Martin  as  treasurer.  The  other  members  were  Frank 
Askew,  C.  A.  Chace,  and  Gardiner  Lathrop,  who  succeeded 
Mr.  Karnes,  who  retired  voluntarily  after  long  and  efficient  ser- 
vice with  the  good  wishes  of  all  friends  of  public  education. 

In  1884  J.  C.  James  succeeded  C.  A.  Chace  on  the  board. 
There  were  no  other  changes,  officially  or  otherwise.  Mr. 
Chace  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health,  after  having  faithfully 
served  on  the  board  for  twelve  years.  The  total  number  of 
children  of  the  school  age  was  22,570.  Of  these,  10,347  were 
enrolled,  and  the  average  daily  attendance  was  6,242. 

The  library  at  this  time  contained  about  15,000  volumes, 
and  the  number  was  constantly  increasing.  The  value  of  school 
property  was  estimated  at  $1,062,620. 

In  1890  the  old  question  arose,  how  to  accommodate  the 
rapidly  increasing  host  of  school-children.  Every  school-house 
in  the  city  was  filled  to  overflowing,  and  new  ones  must  be  built 
at  once. 


JOURNAL  BUILDING.  Sixth  and  Delaware. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Journalism  in  Kansas  City  from  1865  to  1890. 

When  the  reconstruction  and  upbuilding  of  the  city  began, 
in  1865,  no  agency  was  more  potent  in  infusing  courage  and 
hopefulness  among  the  people  than  the  public  press.  With  its 
population  reduced  to  less  than  4,000  inhabitants  in  1865, 
Kansas  City  had  but  one  daily,  two  weekly  English  newspapers, 
one  German  weekly,  and  a  bi-monthly  medical  journal,  and  with 
the  support  of  an  impoverished  community  they  relatively  con- 
trasted in  character  and  vigor  with  their  more  pretentious  suc- 
cessors of  to-day.  The  wonderful  progress  Kansas  City  made 
from  1865  to  1887,  in  wealth,  population,  and  commercial  impor- 
tance, revealed  a  corresponding  progress  in  its  public  press,  which 
already  occupied  a  conspicuous  and  honorable  position  in  Ameri- 
can journalism.  Its  influence,  especially  in  late  years,  has  been 
felt  in  an  effective  and  gratifying  way,  not  only  as  a  great  fac- 
tor in  the  accomplishment  of  the  results  which  have  made 
Kansas  City  one  of  the  foremost  of  American  cities,  but  in 
political  policy  and  the  counsels  of  the  nation.  The  conductors 
of  the  leading  newspapers  of  Kansas  City  have  in  such  capacity 
won  wide  reputation  as  able  journalists,  and  their  efforts  have 
been  rewarded  with  a  degree  of  liberal  support  which  has  made 
it  possible  to  give  to  the  city  a  public  press  unexcelled  by  any 
city  of  the  same  size  in  the  United  States.  During  the  period 
of  the  war,  the  Kansas  City  Jbwrwo/ was  published  by  T.  Dwight 


80  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 


Thacher,  for  many  years  editor  of  the  Lawrence,  Kansas, 
Journal.  March  23,  1865,  Mr.  Thacher  sold  the  paper  to 
Colonel  R.  T.  Van  Horn  and  A.  H.  Hallowell.  Under  the  edi- 
torial charge  of  Colonel  Van  Horn,  the  Journal,  with  renewed 
vigor,  threw  all  its  power  and  influence  in  behalf  of  the  upbuild- 
ing of  Kansas  City.  In  August,  1865,  it  said:  "The  present 
is  bright;  we  can,  if  we  wish  to,  be  the  architects  of  our  own 
fortunes.  To  be  so  we  must  be  earnest,  industrious,  and  enter- 
prising." It  immediately  took  up  the  old  strain  of  1860  about 
railroads  and  improvements,  and  rallied  the  people  about  the 
old  enterprises  in  which  the  city  had  been  engaged  before  the 
war.  It  urged  the  reorganization  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
of  which  it  had  been  the  organ  and  advocate.  "It  did  more," 
says  W.  H.  Miller,  in  his  history  of  Kansas  City,  "at  this  partic- 
ular time,  to  arouse  the  people  than  all  other  agencies  combined, 
and  re-marshaled  them  to  the  struggle  for  commercial  develop- 
ment as  potently  as  ever  trumpet  or  drum-beat  marshaled 
soldiers  to  the  fray." 

In  March,  1867,  Colonel  Van  Horn,  having  been  elected 
to  Congress,  retired  from  the  paper,  and  in  April  following  Mr. 
Hallowell  sold  it  to  Foster,  V/ilder  &  Co,  On  the  9th  of  March, 
1870,  Colonel  John  Wilder,  then  editor  of  the  Journal,  was 
shot  and  killed  by  James  Hutchinson,  at  the  city  court-house, 
in  a  personal  altercation.  Colonel  Wilder  was  a  very  popular 
man  and  an  able  editor,  and  his  loss  was  greatly  deplored  by  the 
people.  Hutchinson  afterwards  died,  before  the  date  set  for 
his  trial.  In  May  of  the  same  year.  Colonel  Van  Horn,  at  the 
end  of  his  third  term  in  Congress,  again  became  connected 
with  the  paper  by  the  purchase  of  the  interest  of  Colonel  Wilder. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  81 

In  a  few  days  D.  K.  Abeel  joined  his  old  partner  by  the  pur- 
chase of  other  interests,  and  the  firm  of  R.  T.  Van  Horn  &  Co» 
was  formed,  C.  G.  Foster  retaining  his  interest  and  remaining 
with  the  paper.  In  the  fall  of  1 867  the  Journal  was  moved 
from  its  location  on  Main  Street  and  Commercial  Alley  and 
placed  in  a  building  on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street  just  south 
of  Second  Street.  This  was  the  first  move  made  by  the  Jour- 
nal in  ten  years,  and  the  period  covered  by  its  residence  on 
Commercial  Alley  was  in  many  respects  the  most  eventful  in 
its  history.  In  1 87 1  the  Journal  removed  from  Main  Street  to 
No.  6  West  Fifth  Street.  Each  move  was  made  necessary  by 
the  continued  growth  of  the  paper,  and  each  time  increased 
facilities  were  added  to  the  plant  and  better  quarters  sought. 
In  August,  1871,  Colonel  Van  Horn  purchased  the  interest  of 
C.  G.  Foster,  and  on  February  15,  1872,  the  Journal  Company 
was  organized  and  incorporated  under  the  State  laws.  In  mak- 
ing the  announcement  of  the  change  the  Journal  stated  that  it 
was  for  the  purpose  of  giving  employees  an  opportunity  to  take 
stock  in  the  business.  Colonel  Van  Horn  remained  editor-in- 
chief  and  D.  K.  Abeel  continued  as  business  manager  until 
August,  1872,  when  he  sold  his  stock  in  the  company  to  Isaac 
P.  Moore,  who  took  the  business  management  of  the  paper. 
In  August,  1877,  D.  K.  Abeel,  Charles  N.  Brooks,  M.  H. 
Stevens,  and  W.  A.  Bunker  purchased  a  controlling  interest  in 
the  paper.  Colonel  Van  Horn  continuing  as  president  of  the 
company  and  editor-in-chief  of  the  paper,  while  D.  K.  Abeel 
became  vice-president  and  business  manager,  and  M.  H. 
Stevens  managing  editor.  About  the  close  of  1877  the  Jour- 
nal moved  to  529  Delaware  Street,  and  a  few  months  after  a 


82  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

double-cylinder  Hoe,  the  first  press  of  its  kind  in  Kansas  City, 
was  purchased.  In  the  mean  time  the  necessity  for  larger  and 
better  quarters  was  constantly  pressed  on  the  attention  of  the 
stockholders  by  the  increasing  business  of  the  paper.  To  meet 
this  want  the  property  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Sixth  and 
Delaware  streets  was  purchased,  upon  which  was  erected  what 
was  at  that  time  one  of  the  finest  and  most  commodious  news- 
paper offices  in  the  Missouri  Valley.  The  building  was  com- 
pleted in  December,  1879.  After  moving  into  the  new  build- 
ing, the  prosperity  of  the  paper  was  so  rapid  that  the  old  press 
was  unequal  to  the  task  of  printing  the  Journal.  It  was  a  tedious 
process,  and  any  attempt  to  publish  more  than  an  eight-page 
paper  was  accompanied  by  large  preparations  and  involved  great 
labor.  To  overcome  this  difficulty  a  Scott  perfecting  press  was 
purchased,  and  in  January,  1881,  was  put  into  operation,  the 
first  of  its  kind  used  in  a  newspaper  office  in  the  Missouri 
Valley.  On  January  1,  1886,  a  second  Scott  perfecting  press 
was  placed  in  the  Journal  office,  and  was  first  used  in  con- 
nection with  the  other  press,  in  printing  the  annual  review  edi- 
tion. In  1886  the  Journal  had  outgrown  its  quarters  on  the 
corner  of  Delaware  and  Sixth  streets,  and  the  stockholders  de- 
termined upon  the  erection  of  a  new  building  especially  designed 
for  its  use.  A  site  was  secured  upon  the  corner  of  Walnut  and 
Tenth  streets,  and  work  upon  the  new  structure  was  begun  in 
the  latter  part  of  1886  and  completed  in  October,  1887.  In 
politics  the  paper  had  been  steadily  Democratic  until  the  close 
of  the  presidential  campaign  of  1860,  in  which  it  supported 
Douglas  as  the  representative  of  the  Union  element  in  the 
Democratic  party.     The  secession  schemes  which  came  to  the 


THE  JUNCTION,    1880. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  83 

surface  after  this  campaign  found  no  support  in  the  Journal, 
and  its  editor,  Colonel  Van  Horn,  could  not  be  induced  to 
espouse  the  cause  of  the  South.  The  position  of  the  Journal 
was  made  known  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  campaign 
of  1860.  There  was  no  hesitation.  It  was  for  Union  uncon- 
ditionally. Fruitless  attempts  were  made  to  secure  the  influence 
of  the  Journal  in  behalf  of  secession,  but  Colonel  Van  Horn 
fearlessly  refused  to  be  dictated  into  defending  rebellion.  Thus, 
in  behalf  of  the  Union,  the  Journal  became  a  Republican  paper 
in  1861,  and  has  since  been  one  of  the  leading  advocates  of  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  State  of  Missouri. 

The  only  other  newspaper  besides  the  Journal  in  existence 
in  Kansas  City  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  which  has  been 
continuously  published  since,  was  the  Daily  Kansas  City  Post 
(German).  It  was  founded  in  the  latter  part  of  1858,  under  the 
name  of  the  Missouri  Post,  and  its  first  issue  appeared  on  Jan- 
uary 1 ,  1859.  Its  first  editor  was  August  Wuerz,  Sr.,  who  con- 
ducted it  for  several  years. 

The  first  Democratic  daily  established  after  the  war  was 
the  Advertiser,  which  appeared  in  1865,  edited  by  a  gentleman 
named  Simpson.  It  struggled  heroically  for  four  years,  but 
failed  to  find  the  path  to  success,  and  was  discontinued. 

The  early  history  of  the  Kansas  City  Tinges  was  fraught  with 
difficulties,  such  as  most  attempts  to  establish  a  new  paper  en- 
counter. The  first  issue  appeared  September  8,  1868.  It  was 
an  eight-column  folio  sheet,  twenty-six  and  one-half  by  forty- 
four  inches  in  size.  At  this  time  there  was  no  Democratic 
paper  of  influence  in  Kansas  City,  and  the  need  for  a  party 
organ  was  the  main  reason  for  bringing  it  into  existence.     R. 


84  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

B.  Drury  &  Co.  were  the  proprietors.  For  some  time  after 
its  first  issue,  the  venture  did  not  prove  a  success,  financially. 
On  December  22,  1868,  the  paper  changed  hands,  and  a  com- 
pany was  organized  under  the  name  of  the  Kansas  City  Times 
Publishing  Company,  of  which  William  E.  Dunscombe,  Charles 
Durfee,  J.  D.  Williams,  and  R.  B.  Drury  were  elected  di- 
rectors.    Mr.  Williams  served  as  business  manager,  and  John 

C.  Moore  and  John  N.  Edwards  as  editors.  In  April,  1869, 
James  E.  McHenry  became  business  manager,  and  held  the 
position  until  June  28th  of  the  same  year,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  C.  E.  Chichester.  On  September  29,  1869,  the 
office  was  removed  to  the  corner  of  Main  and  Fifth  streets, 
and  in  February  of  the  following  year  the  company  was  dis- 
solved and  the  paper  sold  at  public  sale.  The  purchasers  were 
Charles  Dougherty,  of  Independence,  John  C.  Moore  and  John 
N.  Edwards.  Varying  fortune  marked  the  course  of  the  Times, 
until  August  20,  1871,  when  it  again  changed  hands  and  came 
under  the  control  of  efficient  managers.  The  officers  of  the 
new  company  were  Amos  Green,  president;  Thomas  H.  Mastin, 
treasurer;  and  Dr.  Morrison  Munford,  secretary  and  general 
manager.  The  success  of  the  Times,  under  its  new  manage- 
ment, was  rapid.  From  the  date  of  their  purchase  it  was  start- 
ed on  a  fixed  and  definite  course,  both  in  a  business  and  edi- 
torial way,  which  has  resulted  in  building  it  up  to  its  present 
standard  of  excellence  and  greatness.  In  September,  1871 ,  the 
office  of  the  Times  was  removed  to  commodious  quarters  on 
Fourth  Street,  between  Main  and  Delaware  streets.  January 
3,  1872,  the  paper  appeared  in  a  new  dress  and  enlarged  to  a 
nine-column  folio.     With  that  issue  an  extensive   review  of 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  85 

Kansas  City  was  given,  in  a  supplement.  Through  the  finan- 
cial depression  of  1873  the  Times  was  safely  carried,  and  dur- 
ing those  dark  days  lent  every  energy  toward  the  re-establish- 
ment of  business  enterprises,  and  the  infusing  of  confidence 
among  Kansas  City's  business  men.  In  April,  1872,  Mr. 
Mastin  transferred  his  interest  to  Messrs.  Green  and  M.  Mun- 
ford,  and  later  J.  E.  Munford  acquired  an  interest.  In  May, 
1875,  Mr.  Green  sold  his  interest  to  the  Messrs.  Munford. 
The  old  Times  Publishing  Company  was  then  dissolved,  and  No- 
vember 29,  1875,  the  property  was  transferred  to  the  present 
organization,  "The  Kansas  City  Times  Company,"  which 
Messrs.  Munford,  in  connection  with  Samuel  Williams,  had 
organized.  The  latter  retired  in  1878,  when  his  stock  was 
purchased  by  the  company.  In  1878  the  plant  was  removed 
to  Fifth  Street,  between  Main  and  Delaware  streets,  where  it 
remained  until  1885,  growing  steadily  and  rapidly  in  influence 
and  financial  value.  When  the  Times  moved  into  its  new 
quarters  an  entire  new  mechanical  outfit  was  secured,  and  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  at  this  time  no  paper  west  of  Chicago  had 
more  complete  facilities  for  the  publication  of  a  metropolitan 
daily  newspaper.  The  success  of  the  Times  in  latter  years  has 
been  one  of  the  remarkable  achievements  of  Western  journal- 
ism. In  a  marvelously  brief  time  it  has  been  transformed  from 
a  struggling  concern  to  an  establishment  which  ranks  high 
among  the  best  class  of  metropolitan  newspapers.  It  was  the 
originator  of  the  great  Oklahoma  movement,  for  the  purpose  of 
opening  up  the  Indian  Territory. 

Contemporary  with  the  Times,  a  Republican  daily,  called  the 
Kansas  City  Evening  Bulletin,  ^9iS  established  in  March,  1868, 


86  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

with  an  office  on  the  east  side  of  the  Public  Square.  G.  W. 
Householder  and  J.  D.  Williams  were  its  proprietors  and 
editors.  It  met  with  a  fair  degree  of  success,  but  was  unable 
to  withstand  the  financial  panic  of  1873,  and  in  consequence 
suspended  publication. 

The  Kansas  City  News,  an  evening  independent  paper,  was 
established  by  a  co-operative  company  of  printers,  in  1870. 
Frank  Barnum  was  the  manager  of  the  enterprise  until  1873, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  E.  A.  Siceluff.  Lack  of  proper 
support  caused  its  suspension  in  1874. 

The  next  daily  newspaper  enterprise  of  importance  was  the 
establishment  in  May,  1875,  of  the  Evening  Mail,  an  evening 
Democratic  paper,  by  a  stock  company  composed  of  a  few 
prominent  men  of  Kansas  City.  E.  L.  Martin  was  president 
of  the  company,  and  John  C.  Gage  treasurer.  The  primary 
object  of  the  Mail  was  to  have  a  journal  which  could  be  the 
exponent  of  those  opposed  to  the  "water-works  clique,"  as  it 
then  existed.  Colonel  John  C.  Moore  was  selected  as  editor-in- 
chief.  In  April,  1876,  E.  L.  Martin  resigned  his  official  con- 
nection with  the  company,  and  James  T.  Kelley  was  elected  in 
his  stead.  In  the  winter  of  1878-79  the  Af<3/7  suffered  severel;' 
from  the  effects  of  fire,  all  of  its  printing  material,  presses,  etc., 
being  destroyed.  The  publication  of  the  Mail  was  discontinued 
in  January,  1882,  when  it  was  purchased  by  the  present  pro- 
prietor of  the  Kansas  City  Star,  and  consolidated  with  that 
journal. 

Kansas  City  Star.  Recognizing  that  Kansas  City  had  be- 
come a  metropolis  and  should  have  metropolitan  adjuncts,  W. 
R.  Nelson  and  S.  E.  Morse,  formerly  proprietors  of  the  Fort 


GRAND  OPERA  HOUSE. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  87 

Wayne  Sentinel,  Indiana,  came  to  the  city  in  the  fall  of  1880 
and  established  the  Kansas  City  Star,  a  low-priced  evening  paper, 
similar  in  size  and  style  to  those  which  have  proved  so  popular 
and  profitable  in  all  the  other  large  cities  of  the  country.  The 
first  issue  of  the  paper  appeared  September  18, 1880.  The  paper 
was  a  success  from  the  beginning,  and  at  once  secured  a  large 
circulation.  In  1 882  Mr.  Morse  sold  his  interest  to  Mr.  Nelson, 
who  has  since  been  the  sole  proprietor.  January,  1882,  the 
Evening  Mail  was  consolidated  with  the  Star,  at  which  time  the 
latter  was  removed  from  No.  14  West  Fifth  Street  to  more 
commodious  and  convenient  quarters.  No.  115  West  Sixth 
Street,  formerly  occupied  by  the  Mail.  The  Star  has  achieved 
a  remarkable  success,  which  can  be  ascribed  to  the  fact  that  it 
is  enterprising,  thoroughly  independent  in  politics,  and  furnished 
at  a  low  price.  Its  circulation  has  steadily  grown  from  year 
to  year,  and  it  has  gained  for  itself  a  fine  hold  upon  the  support 
of  the  people  of  this  section.  Three  editions  are  published 
daily,  and  on  special  occasions  extra  editions  are  issued. 
Colonel  W.  R.  Nelson  is  proprietor  and  manager. 

The  Evening  Nevus,  a  daily  afternoon  and  evening  paper,  was 
established  March  19,  1885,  by  the  Evening  News  Association, 
of  which  J.  S.  Reber,  George  F.  Meyer,  H.  N.  Hasckman, 
and  I.  F.  Guiwits  were  the  incorporators.  The  first  officers 
were  J.  S.  Reber,  president,  and  I.  F.  Guiwits,  secretary.  The 
editorial  staff  of  the  News  was  composed  of  Willis  J.  Abbott, 
managing  editor,  R.  B.  Gelatt,  editor,  and  Nathan  Eisenlord, 
business  manager.     This  paper  was  eventually  discontinued. 

The  Illustrated  World  ^as  founded  in  1888  by  J.  S.  Reber, 
who,  in  1883,  had  established  the  Sunday  Graphic,  and  in  1885 


88  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

the  Evening  News.  Under  his  management  the  new  paper  has 
successfully  weathered  several  financial  storms  and  has  been 
firmly  established  as  a  business  enterprise  having  a  very  large 
circulation  throughout  the  West.  It  is  devoted  to  politics, 
literature,  and  the  drama,  in  addition  to  interesting  comments 
on  current  events,  and  is  profusely  illustrated. 

The  German  weekly,  Vorwaerts,  was  founded  by  Charles 
Lengel  in  1884.  It  is  now  published  by  Ferdinand  Schubert, 
with  Bernard  Schubert  as  editor. 

The  Kansas  City  Presse,  a  German  daily  paper,  was  started 
in  1883  by  the  Kansas  City  Presse  Publishing  Company,  of 
which  Philip  Doppler,  Henry  W.  Zurn,  Henry  Stubenrauch, 
Curt  Thiersch,  and  Carl  Beck  were  the  first  directors.  Henry 
W.  Zurn  has  been  the  business  manager  of  the  company  ever 
since  its  formation,  while  the  editorial  management  of  the  paper 
has  devolved  upon  Curt  Thiersch.  With  the  exception  of  Mr. 
Doppler,  who  sold  his  interest  to  the  other  members  of  the 
company,  no  change  has  occurred  among  the  original  stock- 
holders. Henry  Stubenrauch  is  president  of  the  company,  and 
Henry  W.  Zurn  secretary  and  treasurer.  The  Presse  has  be- 
come one  of  the  leading  German  daily  papers  of  Western  Mis- 
souri, has  an  extended  publication,  and  exerts  a  wide  influence. 

The  Kansas  City  Live  Stock  Indicator  and  Farmer's  Gazette, 
a  weekly  paper,  was  established  in  April,  1878,  by  Etue,  Holmes 
&  Simons.  It  was  originally  a  six-column  folio  sheet.  In 
December,  1878,  Etue  &  Simons  bought  out  Mr.  Holmes.  In 
June,  1882,  a  stock  company  was  formed,  composed  of  P.  D. 
Etue  and  A.  D.  Simons,  who  own  all  the  stock.  The  editor  of 
the   Indicator,  F.  D.  Coburn,  was   formerly  secretary  of  the 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  89 

Kansas  City  Board  of  Agriculture.  Tliis  journal  gives  special 
attention  to  the  grain,  live  stock,  and  produce  markets  of  Kansas 
City,  and  the  live  stock  and  agricultural  interests  of  the  country 
commercially  tributary  thereto. 

The  Kansas  City  Medical  Record,  a  monthly  journal  of  medi- 
cine and  surgery,  has  been  published  and  edited  by  Dr.  A.  L. 
Fulton  and  Prof.  George  Halley  since  1884.  It  is  carefully 
edited,  and  has  received  the  warmest  endorsement  from  mem- 
bers of  the  medical  profession.  From  the  success  it  has 
already  attained,  its  future  prosperity  seems  secure. 

The  Western  Dental  Journal  is  a  monthly  periodical  devoted 
to  the  dissemination  of  dental  knowledge  in  the  West.  It  was 
established  in  January,  1886,  by  R.  I.  Pearson  &  Co.,  and  has 
been  received  with  marked  favor  by  members  of  the  dental 
profession.  Its  editorial  staff  is  composed  of  J.  D.  Patterson, 
D.D.S.,  A.  H.  Thompson,  D.D.S.,  and  C.  L.  Hungerford, 
D.D.S. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

An  Unparalleled  Railway  System. — How  It  was  Projected. — How  It 

Developed. — How  It  has  Influenced  the  Commercial 

Prosperity  of  the  City. — A  Comparison. 

In  those  pages  of  this  work  devoted  to  the  history  of  Kansas 
City  before  and  during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  an  account 
is  given  of  the  inception  and  subsequent  progress  or  failure  of 
railway  projects  during  that  period.  The  war  prostrated  most 
enterprises,  and  shattered  Kansas  City's  hopes  for  speedy  com- 
mercial supremacy;  but  her  citizens  took  heart  from  the  knowl- 
edge that  her  natural  advantages  had  already  been  amply  demon- 
strated, and  that  the  main  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  started 
within  her  limits  and  was  in  operation  as  far  as  Lawrence, 
while  the  Missouri  Pacific  was  nearly  completed. 

In  February,  1865,  the  Missouri  Legislature  granted  a 
charter  for  a  railroad  from  Kansas  City  to  the  Iowa  State  line, 
in  the  direction  of  Council  Bluffs  via  St.  Joseph,  and  embrac- 
ing what  had  been  built  of  the  Kansas  City  &  St.  Joseph 
Railroad  from  St.  Joseph  to  Weston.  The  interest  in  the  road 
to  Ft.  Scott  was  revived,  and  the  Kansas  Legislature  memori- 
alized Congress  for  a  grant  of  land  for  it.  Track-laying  on  the 
Missouri  Pacific  was  resumed  in  February.  Good  progress 
was  being  made  when,  a  month  later,  the  country  along  the 
line  began  to  swarm  with  bushwhackers,  who  not  only  prevented 
trade  with  adjacent  parts  of  Missouri,  but  frequently  robbed 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  91 

the  men  employed  in  constructing  the  road,  and  prevented 
their  proceeding  with  the  work.  Ineffectually  General  Pope 
was  appealed  to  for  aid  in  suppressing  them.  He  informed 
Governor  Fletcher  that  the  civil  authorities  must  deal  with 
them.  In  May  about  350  of  them  assembled  near  Lexington, 
and  threatened  to  sack  and  fire  the  town,  but  they  now  seemed 
to  realize  that  the  rebellion  was  at  an  end,  though  they  had 
never  credited  reports  to  that  effect,  which  had  reached  them 
before,  and  many  of  them,  led  by  the  notorious  Bill  Poole,  sur- 
rendered to  the  authorities  of  Lexington,  while  others  fled. 

The  Kansas  City  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which  was  re- 
organized in  July,  became  again,  as  it  had  been  in  ante-bellum 
days,  a  vigorous  aid  to  railroad  extension.  The  Fort  Scott 
road  was  one  of  the  first  to  receive  the  attention  of  that  body. 
The  old  Kansas  &  Neosho  Valley  Company  was  reorganized 
under  the  presidency  of  Colonel  Kersey  Coates,  and  measures 
were  taken  without  delay  toward  its  construction.  A  proposi- 
tion was  submitted  to  the  people  of  Kansas  City,  September 
19th,  that  they  vote  $200,000  to  aid  this  object  and  $25,000 
toward  the  completion  of  the  Kansas  City  &  St.  Joseph  Rail- 
road from  Weston  to  Kansas  City.  On  September  14th,  five 
days  before  the  election,  Captain  Charles  G.  Keeler  had  begun 
work  on  the  Fort  Scott  road.  Both  appropriations  were  voted 
by  the  people  by  large  majorities.  In  November  following, 
Johnson  and  Miami  counties,  Kansas,  each  voted  the  Fort 
Scott  road  $200,000.  This  it  is  thought  would  practically 
secure  its  construction.  As  projected  in  1856,  this  road  was 
to  have  run  to  Galveston,  and  its  friends  were  now  waiting  and 
watching  for  an  opportunity  to  secure  its  right  of  way  through 


92  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

the   Indian   Territory.      Such   an   opportunity  was  soon  pre- 
sented. 

During  the  war  the  Creeks  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  Semi- 
noles,  Shawnees,  Kiowas,  Wichitas,  Osages,  Comanches, 
Senecas,  Quapaws,  and  Cherokees  had,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
joined  the  rebellion.  In  consequence,  the  Government  took 
the  ground  that  these  Indians  had  nullified  all  treaties  formerly 
existing  between  them  and  the  United  States  and  that  new 
treaties  must  be  made,  and  Judge  D.  N.  Cooly  (Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs),  Hon.  Elijah  Sells  (Superintendent  of  the 
Southern  Superintendency) ,  Colonel  Parker  (of  General  Grant's 
staff).  General  Harney,  of  St.  Louis,  Thomas  Nixon,  of  Phil- 
adelphia, and  others  were  appointed  commissioners  on  the 
part  of  the  Government  to  meet  the  Indians  at  Fort  Smith, 
September  5th,  to  negotiate  such  treaties.  The  friends  of  the 
railroad  recognized  in  this  treaty  an  opportunity  to  secure  the 
much  desired  right  of  way,  and  the  Kansas  City  Chamber  of 
Commerce  appointed  Colonel  R.  T.  Van  Horn,  Colonel  E.  M. 
McGee,  Colonel  M.  J.  Payne,  and  Matthew  Mudeater  (a  Wy- 
andotte Indian)  the  Kansas  City  delegation  to  the  conference. 
The  balance  of  the  delegation  consisted  of  Silas  Armstrong,  of 
Wyandotte,  Colonel  Wilson,  Major  Reynolds,  and  General  C. 
W.  Blair,  of  Fprt  Scott,  General  R.  B.  Mitchell,  of  Paola,  and 
Colonel  T.  J.  Haines  and  General  James  G.  Blunt.  These 
representatives  of  their  several  localities  secured  the  right  of 
way  through  the  Territory  from  Kansas  to  Texas,  and  at  the 
instance  of  St.  Louis  capitalists  a  right  of  way  was  secured 
across  the  Territory  from  east  to  west,  which  was  afterwards 
utilized  by  the  St.  Louis  &  San  Francisco  Railroad. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  93 

The  Missouri  Pacific  was  completed  September  21,  1865, 
and  opened  with  great  rejoicing  on  the  part  of  residents  of 
Kansas  City.  The  North  Missouri  Railroad  people,  having 
obtained  control  of  the  charter  of  the  Missouri  Valley  Railroad, 
resumed  operations  as  soon  as  the  bushwhackers  were  driven 
from  the  country. 

Early  in  1866  a  bill  was  passed  by  the  Kansas  Legislature, 
dividing  about  120,000  acres  of  land,  given  the  State  for  in- 
ternal improvements,  between  several  railroad  corporations. 
Of  this  aggregate  the  Fort  Scott  &  Gulf  Railroad  received 
25,000  acres.  In  February,  Congressman  Van  Horn  intro- 
duced in  the  House  of  Representatives  a  bill  granting  certain 
lands  in  Kansas  to  the  Kansas  &  Neosho  Railroad  Company, 
and  granting  a  franchise  through  the  Indian  Territory,  A  bill 
granting  land  aggregating  about  800,000  acres  to  the  Fort 
Scott  Railroad  became  a  law  in  July.  At  the  session  of  the 
Kansas  Legislature,  early  in  1 866,  the  name  of  the  Leavenworth, 
Lawrence  &  Fort  Gibson  Railroad  was  changed  to  the  Leav- 
enworth, Lawrence  &  Galveston,  and  soon  afterward  the 
Kansas  &  Neosho  Valley  Railroad  became  known  as  the  Mis- 
souri River,  Fort  Scott  &  Gulf  Railroad.  On  May  15th  the 
first  train  was  run  from  Leavenworth  to  Lawrence.  In  July 
Congress  chartered  the  southern  branch  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railway  with  the  right  to  run  from  Fort  Riley  down  the  Neosho 
River  to  Fort  Smith.  About  the  same  time  the  Senate  con- 
firmed the  treaty  with  the  Delaware  Indians,  by  which  their 
reservation  in  Kansas  was  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  Missouri 
River  Railroad  Company,  then  just  completed  between  Kansas 
City  and  Leavenworth. 


94  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

The  opening  of  the  year  1867  found  the  Kansas  City  & 
Cameron  Railroad  Company  still  without  funds  to  complete 
the  line.  President  Kearney  and  others  went  to  Chicago  to 
sell  $100,000  of  Kansas  City  bonds,  and  they  and  Kansas  City 
were  made  the  subjects  of  violent  and  derisive  attacks  in  the 
St.  Louis  newspapers.  Soon  afterwards,  under  authority  from 
the  Legislature  of  Missouri,  they  mortgaged  the  road  to  the 
Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph  Railroad  Company  and  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad  Company.  But  it  was  yet 
necessary  for  the  company  to  raise  the  $30,000  which  the  peo- 
ple of  Jackson  County,  outside  of  Kansas  City,  had  once  voted 
down,  and  the  proposition  was  again  placed  before  the  electors 
of  the  county  March  19th,  and  again  rejected.  ■  Mr.  Joy,  presi- 
dent of  the  Hannibal  Sl  St.  Joseph  Railroad,  then  offered  to 
take  the  road  off  the  hands  of  the  company,  cancel  the  people's 
subscription  of  $60,000,  and  complete  the  road  by  the  first  of 
December,  on  condition  that  the  city  and  Clay  County  would 
release  to  him  their  stock  in  the  road.  After  some  delay,  this 
proposition  was  accepted,  and  from  that  time  forward  the  work 
of  construction  progressed  rapidly.  The  corner-stone  of  the 
Kansas  City  bridge  was  laid  August  21st,  and  the  last  rail  of  the 
road  was  laid  November  22d,  Colonel  Kearney  and  William 
Gillis,  the  oldest  resident  of  Kansas  City,  driving  the  last  spike. 
Colonel  Kearney  sent  congratulatory  messages  to  the  Chicago 
Board  of  Trade  and  the  St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the 
former  returning  a  warm  response,  while  the  latter  made  no 
acknowledgment.  February  21,  1870,  this  road  was  consoli- 
dated with  the  Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph  Railroad,  and  soon 
afterward  became  the  main  line  of  that  road. 


NATIONAL  BANK  OF  KANSAS  CITY,  Fifth  and  Delaware. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  95 

Early  in  1867,  Leavenworth  attempted  to  secure  legisla- 
tion in  Missouri  that  would  make  the  terminus  of  both  the 
Platte  County  and  North  Missouri  roads  at  that  place,  and  to 
get  through  the  Kansas  Legislature  an  appropriation  of  $500,- 
000,  for  the  construction  of  a  bridge  there;  but  both  these  pro- 
jects were  defeated.  In  March  the  Atchison  &  Weston,  the 
Atchison  8i  St.  Joseph,  and  the  St.  Joseph  &  Savannah  roads 
were  consolidated  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Missouri, 
under  the  name  of  the  Platte  County  Railroad,  and  the  com- 
pany controlling  them  authorized  to  build  a  railroad  from  Kansas 
City  via  St.  Joseph  to  the  Iowa  line,  in  the  direction  of  Council 
Bluffs,  and  a  branch  from  St.  Joseph  ui'a  Savannah  to  the 
Iowa  line,  in  the  direction  of  Des  Moines. 

In  January,  1868,  it  was  learned  that  a  company  had  pro- 
cured a  charter  for  a  railroad  from  Louisiana,  Mo.,  to  Kansas 
City,  and  in  March  a  committee  arrived  in  Kansas  City  to  ask 
the  people  to  take  an  interest  in  it.  In  June  the  electors  voted 
$250,000  in  its  aid.  Late  in  the  year  the  Chicago  &  Alton 
Railroad  Company  became  interested  in  the  project,  and  the 
roadway  was  soon  built  from  Louisiana  to  Mexico,  where  it 
connected  with  the  North  Missouri  Railroad,  but,  owing  to  dif- 
ficulties about  issuing  bonds  in  some  counties  traversed  by  the 
line,  the  balance  of  the  road  was  not  built  at  that  time.  The 
Chicago  &  Alton  Company  built  a  bridge  across  the  Missis- 
sippi  at  Louisiana,  and  operated  from  Kansas  City  to  Chicago 
over  the  track  of  the  North  Missouri  until  1878,  when  its  own 
line  was  completed  to  Kansas  City. 

In  March,  1869,  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  Company 
took  an  interest  in  the  Pleasant  Hill  &  Lawrence  Railroad 


96  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

and  in  June  it  was  under  contract.  In  the  first  named  month 
the  city  council  submitted  to  the  people  an  ordinance  to  aid 
the  Kansas  City  &  Santa  F^  Railroad  to  the  extent  of  $100,- 
000,  to  be  expended  between  Kansas  City  and  Ottawa,  but  it 
was  voted  down  because  it  was  erroneously  understood  that  Mr. 
Joy  was  interested  in  the  scheme  and  would  build  the  road 
without  such  aid.  In  April  contracts  were  let  for  building  the 
Leavenworth  &  Atchison  road,  and  the  Atchison  &  Nebraska 
Railroad.  On  the  6th  the  masonry  of  the  Kansas  City  bridge 
was  completed.  The  superstructure  was  speedily  built  and  the 
bridge  was  opened,  with  great  rejoicing,  July  3d.  This  was 
the  first  bridge  spanning  the  Missouri  River,  and  its  successful 
construction  was  deemed  a  wonderful  engineering  feat. 

Early  in  the  year  1877,  a  company,  consisting  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  different  railway  interests  centering  in  Kan- 
sas City,  was  organized  to  build  a  Union  depot — a  measure 
which  had  been  for  some  years  under  discussion.  July  10th 
the  old  wooden  shed,  which  had  long  served  for  that  purpose, 
was  abandoned,  and  the  point  of  interchange  moved  to  the 
State  line  depot.  The  demolition  of  the  old  building  followed 
speedily,  and  the  erection  of  the  present  structure  was  at  once 
begun,  and  finished  in  January,   1878,  at  a  cost  of  $225,000. 

In  January,  1878,  arrangements  for  building  the  extension 
of  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad  were  completed,  except  the 
procurement  of  the  right  of  way  through  the  city.  An  effort  was 
made  to  find  a  route  and  procure  the  right  of  way  into  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  city  by  the  valley  of  0.  K.  Creek, 
i)Ut  the  grades  were  so  high  and  the  right  of  way  so  expensive, 
that  this  measure  was  abandoned,  and  about  the  1st  of  July  the 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  97 

route  over  which  the  line  was  subsequently  built  was  adopted. 
Much  difficulty  was  experienced  in  obtaining  the  right  of  way 
from  the  city,  owing  to  the  opposition  of  a  few  members  of  the 
city  council,  who  secured  its  formal  refusal  by  a  vote  of  that  body 
July  17th.  At  a  spirited  public  meeting  held  in  Board  of  Trade 
Hall  on  the  evening  of  the  18th,  the  action  of  the  council  was 
severely  commented  on  by  leading  business  men.  On  the  8th 
of  August  the  matter  was  again  brought  up  in  the  council  and 
the  right  of  way  was  granted.  The  construction  of  the  road 
was  progressing  rapidly  below,  and  on  the  4th  of  December  the 
work  was  begun  within  the  city  limits. 

Chief  among  railway  extensions  this  year  was  that  of  the 
Chicago  &  Alton  from  Mexico,  Mo.,  to  Kansas  City,  making 
another  through  line  to  Chicago  and  St.  Louis.  This  road  was 
nearly  completed  during  the  year  and  was  opened  for  business 
April  18,  1879,  but  did  not  begin  running  passenger  trains  until 
May  13th.  The  next  in  immediate  importance,  if  it  was  not 
the  most  important  for  Kansas  City,  was  the  extension  of  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  F6  Railroad  from  Pueblo,  Col., 
to  Clifton,  N.  M,,  with  a  view  to  further  extension  to  a  connec- 
tion with  the  Southern  Pacific  of  California,  making  a  southern 
trans-continental  route  more  valuable  than  the  Union  Pacific. 

In  1 882  there  were  several  important  extensions  and  changes 
in  the  railroads  converging  at  Kansas  City.  The  Missouri 
Pacific  was  extended  to  Omaha,  penetrating  and  making  ac- 
cessible to  Kansas  City  the  eastern  and  richest  part  of  the 
State  of  Nebraska.  The  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
Company  completed  a  line  from  Wymore,  on  its  Atchison  & 
Nebraska  road,  in  Nebraska,  to  Denver,  Colorado,  and  put  on 


98  '   Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

through  trains  from  Kansas  City  to  Denver,  by  way  of  this  line 
and  the  Atchison  &  Nebraska  and  Kansas  City,  St.  Joe  & 
Council  Bluffs  lines.  This  afforded  Kansas  City  not  only  a 
new  and  competing  line  to  Colorado,  but  also  secured  it  access 
to  the  whole  of  Southern  Nebraska,  which  was  intersected  by 
the  lines  of  the  company. 

Railway  transportation  facilities  make  commercial  centers. 
When  it  is  understood  that  Chicago  had  but  twenty  lines  of 
railway,  and  that  the  area  which  the  twenty-four  Kansas  City 
lines  covered  was  more  extended  and  more  largely  and  variedly 
productive  than  the  area  penetrated  by  the  twenty  Chicago  lines, 
the  future  of  Kansas  City  could  be  no  longer  in  doubt.  All  these 
remarkable  railway  developments  marked  an  epoch  of  special 
importance  in  Kansas  City's  history,  and  its  results  were  shown 
in  the  opening  up  of  new  territory  to  agriculture,  the  building  of 
new  towns  and  the  establishing  of  new  industries,  making 
Kansas  City  the  headquarters  for  their  supplies  and  the  com- 
mercial center  of  the  Southwest. 


tibirb  S)ecabe» 

1890  -  1900. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The   Genesis  of  the   Metropolis. — Enormous  Contiguous  Territory. — 
Romance  of  the  Waters. — Geographical  Center  of  the   Na- 
tion.— A    Startling    Contrast. — Population. — Rail- 
roads.— Sketch  of  the  "Boom." — Reaction. 
— Story  of  the  Parks. — Retrospect 
and  Outlook. 

Remarkable  as  has  been  the  page  in  history  written  by 
Western  America  during  the  last  decade,  that  which  has  been 
written  by  Kansas  City  is  hardly  less  noteworthy.  Emphasis 
may  be  put  on  the  present  progress  of  the  West,  even  in  view 
of  the  astonishing  transformation  it  had  undergone  during  the 
previous  period. 

Within  the  memory  of  men  still  living,  the  immense  area 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
has  been  transformed  from  a  vast  possibility  into  a  prog- 
ress and  populous  actuality.  Cities  have  sprung  up  almost  in 
a  night;  prairies  have  slowly  been  brought  in  with  axe  and  plow; 
the  farmer  has  supplanted  the  nomad. 

Aladdin-like  and  sudden  as  has  been  the  change,  the  foun- 
dation of  the  new  order  of  things  appears  not  to  have  been 
lacking  in  stability.  The  larger  Western  cities  seem  to  have 
enjoyed  a  healthy  growth  in  keeping  with  the  manufacturing 
and  agricultural  prosperity  around  them.  Among  such 
centers,  and  in  point  of  natural  location,  none  has  been  more 


102  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

fortunate  than  Kansas  City.  Situated  at  the  junction  of  the 
Missouri  and  Kansas  rivers,  it  early  became  an  important 
point  in  river  navigation,  Being  the  eastern  terminus  of  the 
Santa  F6  Trail  also  gave  it  an  additional  prestige  that  has  only 
gathered  momentum  with  time.  From  tepee  to  cabin,  from 
cabin  to  cottage,  from  cottage  to  mansion — from  shack  to  shop, 
from  shop  to  factory;  such  has  been  its  history.  Scarcely 
more  than  half  a  century  ago  the  mists  of  the  morning  cleared 
away,  and  all  that  was  seen  in  the  way  of  civilization  was  a  group 
of  cabins  which  the  fearless  pioneer,  who  had  penetrated  far 
beyond  its  eastern  confines,  had  erected  near  the  meeting-place 
of  the  waters.  Then  nearly  all  was  forest,  the  only  break 
being  an  acre  cleared  here,  or  a  barren  spot  there.  Then  the 
rifle  of  the  settler  brought  him  as  much  food  as  did  the  plow 
or  hoe.  The  only  chimney  from  which  the  smoke  of  the  in- 
dustrial arts  arose  was  that  of  the  solitary  blacksmith's  forge; 
the  one  center  of  commercial  activity  was  the  general  store, 
which  contained  all  that  the  new  community  had  to  offer  to  the 
living  or  furnish  the  dead.  The  light  of  the  tallow  candle  in 
the  store  and  the  glow  of  the  forge  fell  upon  the  face  of  both  the 
red  man  and  the  white. 

The  picture  changed  slowly  enough  at  first,  but  the  view 
dissolved  day  by  day,  and  as  the  Spirit  of  the  Kaw  and  the 
Missouri  watched  he  saw  the  cabin  fall  and  the  palace  rise;  he 
saw  the  rifle  laid  away  on  the  shelf,  no  longer  an  implement, 
but  now  a  toy;  he  saw  the  plow  pushed  farther  into  the  forest, 
and  factories  spring  up  where  farms  had  stood. 

The  picture  is  not  yet  complete— not  even  at  the  beginning 
of  this  twentieth  century  of  progress — but  to-day  the  panorama 


o 
r; 

*I1 

D 

< 

m 

-z 

o 

DC 
H 

m 

/O 

> 
o 
PI 

7\ 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  103 

has  become  one  of  miles  of  great  commercial  and  manufact- 
uring establishments,  of  blocks  and  streets  of  homes,  of  moving 
cars  and  the  hurrying  forms  of  250,000  souls.  The  fulfillment 
of  the  prophecy  has  begun,  but  has  not  yet  ended. 

Kansas  City  owes  its  existence  to  the  union  of  two  streams. 
What  happened  was  this:  The  Missouri  River  came  down 
from  the  north  and  the  Kansas  River  came  in  from  the  west 
and  the  two  united — married,  as  it  were — and,  taking  the  name 
of  the  stronger  of  the  two,  went  away  to  the  eastward  through 
Missouri  to  the  Mississippi.  At  the  point  where  this  wedding 
of  the  waters  took  place  there  was  and  is  a  break  in  the  big 
hills,  almost  mountains,  which  form  the  west  bank  of  the  larger 
river.  Through  this  break  in  the  hills  came  the  Kansas  (by 
early  French  settlers  called  the  "Kaw"),  bringing  the  runaway 
waters  from  near  the  foot  of  the  great  Rocky  range,  seven  hun- 
dred miles  to  the  west.  The  Missouri  must  certainly  have 
been  in  love  with  and  in  search  of  the  Kansas,  for  it  made  a 
bold  detour  from  its  easterly  course  in  the  far  Northwest  and 
came  hundreds  of  miles  south  to  meet  the  Kansas  before  re- 
suming its  journey  east. 

The  point  where  this  wedding  took  place  was  undoubtedly 
intended  by  the  Master  of  Rivers  to  be  the  exact  geographical 
center  of  the  United  States — and  therefore  of  the  universe. 
The  plan  failed  of  execution  just  a  little,  the  centeral  spot  falling 
somewhat  more  than  a  hundred  miles  westward  in  Kansas,  near 
Junction  City.  Perhaps  this  was  caused  by  the  greed  of  the 
United  States  in  settling  its  northwest  boundary  dispute  with 
England;  but  whether  so  or  not,  the  place  where  the  rivers 
came  together  was  deprived  of  the  glory  of  being  the  exact 


104  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

center.  So  far  as  the  distribution  of  big  American  cities  is 
concerned,  however,  the  place  presisted  in  the  original  intention 
and  held  the  very  center. 

The  next  thing  that  happened  was  this:  Another  stream 
began  to  flow— a  stream  of  humanity — and  it  flowed  against 
the  current  of  the  river,  from  east  to  west.  There  had  been 
humanity  in  this  region  since  God  knows  when,  but  it  was 
copper-colored.  The  incoming  stream  was  white,  and  it  began 
to  come  about  the  year  1750.  For  a  long  time  it  was  a  very 
little  stream — now  trickling  along  timidly,  now  disappearing 
altogether  under  the  hot  breath  of  savage  warfare  and  the  ab- 
sorbing difficulties  of  the  wilderness.  In  about  1819  the  first 
of  a  long  line  of  river  turtles,  dignified  by  the  name  of  steam- 
boats, began  to  ply  on  the  Missouri  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
These  turtles,  now  nearly  as  scarce  as  they  were  in  the  be- 
ginning, grew  in  numbers  and  size,  and  after  a  few  years,  were 
carrying  thousands  of  people  and  a  vast  tonnage  of  freight  far 
northward  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas.  The  people  who 
came  on  the  backs  of  these  turtles  were  of  every  white  tribe 
under  the  sun.  They  came  to  fight  the  red  men  and  to 
Christianize  them.  They  came  for  gold  and  for  glory.  They 
came  for  homes  and  for  adventure.  They  came  to  make  some 
men  free  and  others  slaves.  They  came  to  establish  justice 
and  to  defeat  or  escape  it.  They  came  for  all  the  reasons  that 
ever  conspired  to  make  men  push  their  way  into  an  unknown 
and  hostile  country. 

In  the  years  between  1820  and  1840,  settlements  were 
made  at  various  points  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas. 
and  Kansas  City  was  born.     First  it  was  a  miserable   little 


•Kansas  City,  Missouri.  105 

patch  of  a  landing  on  the  yellow  banks  of  the  river,  originally 
called  Westport  Landing,  the  considerable  town  of  Westport 
being  four  miles  south  from  the  river.  This  first  landing  was 
scarcely  more  than  a  snag  in  the  river.  But  the  snag  stuck 
fast  and  steadily  received  contributions  from  the  passing  cur- 
rent, and  in  the  years  between  1840  and  1850  the  town  became 
so  firmly  established  that  its  people  no  longer  feared  its  dis- 
appearance with  the  next  high  water.  In  another  ten  years, 
1850  to  1860,  it  gained  rapidly,  reaching  the  dignity  of  a  news- 
paper, its  first  daily  being  the  Journal  founded  in  1854. 

The  name  "Kansas  City"  suggests  that  the  city  is  in  Kan- 
sas instead  of  in  Missouri.  There  is  now  a  Kansas  City  in 
each  State.  On  the  Kansas  side  of  the  line  the  original  town, 
was  Wyandotte.  A  cluster  of  other  villages  grew  up  near 
Wyandotte  and  a  few  years  ago  these  towns  were  consolidated 
and  took  the  designation  of  Kansas  City  so  as  to  share  the 
good  name  of  her  big  sister  across  the  line.  So  there  are  now 
two  cities  named  Kansas  City — one  in  Kansas  and  one  ia 
Missouri — and  where  one  leaves  off  and  the  other  begins  no 
man  can  tell  until  he  has  been  told.  The  Kansas  town  claims 
50,000  people  and  the  Missouri  town  250,000  people,  the  whole 
population  in  the  immediate  locality  being  at  least  300,000. 
This  is  as  large  as  Chicago  or  St.  Louis  twenty-five  or  thirty 
years  ago,  and  is  nearly  half  as  large  as  St.  Louis  is  now. 

The  early  days  of  Kansas  City  were  unpromising  indeed. 
The  rivers  gave  little  help  and  the  hills  seemed  insuperable. 
Flat  country  was  preferred.  Horses,  mules,  and  oxen  could 
do  more  on  level  land,  and  the  wishes  of  the  locomotive  had 
not  yet  come  to  be  considered.     The  great  search  for  good 


106  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

grades  for  the  use  of  the  iron  horse  had  not  yet  begun  in  the 
West,  and  the  most  sanguine  early  settler  never  expected  to 
see  Kansas  City  what  it  now  is,  the  second  city  of  the  Union 
in  its  importance  as  a  railway  center. 

As  late  as  the  year  1880,  when  Jay  Gould  was  making 
Kansas  City  the  center  of  his  railroad  operations,  the  city  was 
a  sight  to  make  granite  eyes  shed  tears.  The  old-fashioned 
Missouri  hog,  fitter  for  the  race-track  than  for  the  pork-barrel, 
and  not  yet  having  the  fear  of  the  packing-house  before  his 
eyes,  patrolled  the  streets  and  disputed  the  king's  highway  with 
the  king  and  all  his  subjects.  At  night,  when  the  hogs  were  off 
duty,  a  billion  frogs  in  the  green  ponds  at  the  bottom  of  the 
choicest  unoccupied  city  lots  told  their  troubles  to  the  stars  and 
saluted  the  rising  sun  with  croaks  of  despair.  In  wet  weather 
the  town-site  was  a  sea  of  mud  and  in  dry  weather  a  desert  of 
dust.  There  was  no  paving,  and  the  drainage  was  poor.  A 
miserable  breed  of  street  cars,  drawn  by  dissolute  mules  over  a 
drunken  track,  furnished  the  only  means  of  street  transportation 
by  rail.  The  water  supply  made  whisky-drinking  a  virtue  and 
the  gas  was  not  of  much  better  use  than  to  be  blown  out.  The 
population  of  the  city  included  as  fins  a  collection  of  the  ruffian 
brotherhood  and  sisterhood  of  the  wild  West  as  could  well  be 
imagined.  Renegade  Indians,  demoralized  soldiers,  unre- 
formed  bushwhackers,  and  border  ruffians,  thieves,  and  thugs 
imported  from  anywhere,  professional  train-robbers  of  home 
growth,  and  all  kinds  of  wrecks  of  the  Civil  War,  gave  the  town 
something  picturesquely  harder  to  overcome  than  the  hills  and 
gulches  of  its  topography.  In  short,  there  seemed  not  a  single 
pleasing  prospect  except  the   towering  ambition,  indomitable 


SCARRITT  POINT. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  107 

determination,  and  volcanic  energy  of  the  good  people  of  the 
place.     These  were  destined  to  triumph. 

The  work  of  securing  railroads  had  begun  in  earnest  in 
1860.  Bonds  were  voted  to  aid  in  securing  a  line  to  connect 
with  the  Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph  road,  and  part  of  the  work  was 
done  in  1861.  This  line,  now  part  of  the  Burlington  system, 
and  the  Pacific  of  Missouri,  now  part  of  the  Missouri  Pacific, 
were  completed  soon  following  the  war.  The  lines  now  known 
as  the  Kansas  City,  St.  Joseph  &  Council  Bluffs,  the  Hannibal 
&  St.  Joseph,  the  Wabash,  and  the  Missouri  Pacific,  were  the 
first  lines  to  come  into  Kansas  City  and  scatter  consternation 
among  the  steamboat  men  on  the  river.  It  was  a  new  idea, 
and  one  difficult  of  comprehension  by  the  river  men,  that 
Nature's  highway,  the  river,  would  not  be  able  to  compete  suc- 
cessfully with  the  railroads.  The  line  connecting  with  the 
Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph  road  at  Cameron  had  begun  life  bur- 
dened with  the  name,  the  "Kansas  City,  Galveston  8l  Lake 
Superior  Railroad,"  but  after  reforming  this  title,  it  constructed 
from  Cameron  to  Kansas  City,  or  rather  to  the  river  bank  north 
of  Kansas  City,  November  30,1867;  and  by  July  3.  1869,  it 
had  completed  the  bridge  now  known  as  the  Hannibal  Bridge. 

When  Kansas  City,  by  securing  the  Hannibal  Bridge, 
brought  to  itself  the  great  railways  of  the  West,  it  opened  the 
way  for  all  that  has  followed.  Business  came  to  the  city  be- 
cause the  city  had  made  itself  a  business  center.  The  business 
brought  men  to  do  the  work.  These  men  made  a  demand  for 
homes  and  clothing  and  food  and  amusement  and  conveniences, 
and  yet  other  men  came  to  supply  these.  These  in  turn  made 
new  demands,  and  factories  were  established  to  supply  them. 


108  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

James  F.  Joy  and  his  associates  who  built  the  bridge 
originally  intended  to  locate  it  at  Leavenworth,  but  the  hostility 
of  Leavenworth  people  drove  them  to  Kansas  City;  had  it 
not  been  for  this,  Leavenworth  would  have  secured  the  bridge 
and  kept  her  lead  of  Kansas  City.  This  may  have  been  true 
so  far  as  concerned  the  immediate  time,  but  the  matter  of 
grades  would  eventually  have  given  Kansas  City  the  same  ad- 
vantage she  now  enjoys. 

At  the  present  writing,  through  trains  leave  Kansas  City 
daily  over  thirty-seven  different  routes  on  the  lines  of  fifteen 
different  companies.  Besides  this,  the  city  has  two  belt  rail- 
way systems  and  a  remarkable  system  of  street  railways,  in- 
cluding several  miles  of  elevated  track.  The  Union  Station  of 
the  city  is  not  what  would  be  expected  of  a  town  so  important 
to  so  many  great  systems.  The  city  fondly  hopes  to  eclipse 
St.  Louis  in  this  respect  some  day,  and  the  traveling  public 
joins  in  the  hope. 

The  railway  companies  with  lines  reaching  Kansas  City 
are  the  following:  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe;  Chicago  & 
Alton;  Missouri  Pacific;  Wabash;  Kansas  City  Southern; 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul;  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy;  Chicago  Great  Western;  Kansas  City,  Ft.  Scott  & 
Memphis;  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas;  Kansas  City  &  Northern 
Connecting;  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific;  St.  Louis  & 
San  Francisco;  St.  Joseph  &  Grand  Island;  and  Union  Pacific. 
This  enumeration  takes  no  account  of  the  trolley  lines  extend- 
ing in  various  directions  to  neighboring  towns.  Other  railway 
lines  are  confidently  expected  in  the  near  future. 


THE  NEW  YORK  LIFE  BUILDING. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  109 

In  about  the  year  1875  began  what  is  known  in  Kansas 
City's  history  as  the  "boom."  For  ten  years  or  more  it  was 
difficult  to  make  any  real-estate  investment  in  the  city  that 
did  not  yield  a  profit — or  offer  to  yield  one.  It  is  doubtful  if 
any  such  carnival  of  real-estate  speculation  ever  occurred  any- 
where else  in  this  country.  The  platted  land  about  the  city 
extended  out  and  out  until,  if  the  lots  had  been  well  occupied, 
the  city  would  have  been  almost  as  large  as  London.  Prices 
went  up  and  up.  Every  profit  made  the  speculators  bolder  and 
this  boldness  stiffened  prices.  Year  after  year  this  reciprocal 
stimulation  of  the  real-estate  market  was  kept  up  and  the  ul- 
timate victims  multiplied  accordingly.  The  end  came  and 
values  fell  with  a  crash.  Scarcely  a  man  escaped.  Banks 
broke  and  thousands  who  had  thought  themselves  rich  were 
proved  to  be  bankrupt  or  permanently  crippled.  The  awaken- 
ing was  a  frightful  one  and  for  a  long  time  no  place  in  the 
country  presented  a  more  melancholy  aspect.  Disappointment, 
chagrin,  and  despair  were  written  on  the  faces  of  so  many  that 
no  observer  could  avoid  a  most  profound  feeling  of  sadness. 
But  the  bad  dream  passed  and  courage  returned  to  those  who 
survived  the  wreck,  and  at  this  time  little  remains  to  tell  the 
tale  of  the  great  debauch  except  an  unusual  proportion  of  va- 
cant lots  in  the  business  part  of  the  city.  In  the  long  run  this 
may  be  a  good  thing,  as  it  will  likely  influence  the  erection  of 
ampler  buildings  with  larger  ground  space  and  not  so  much 
invasion  of  the  upper  air. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  Kansas  City's  prosperity  rests  on 
things  material  and  unpoetic.  Many  other  cities  are  more 
happily  situated   in  this  respect.     Washington  feeds  on   the 


110  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

manna  of  Government  disbursements;  New  York  grows  great 
and  hourly  greater  on  the  voluntary  support  of  a  worshipful 
nation,  whose  people  rush  there  to  spend  their  money  as  soon 
as  they  get  enough  to  make  the  trip.  Paris,  the  world's  pet,  re- 
news her  youth  on  the  angel  food  provided  by  tourists  of  all 
nations.  But  Kansas  City  has  had  and  has  to  "work  for  a 
living."  Her  dependence  is  on  the  sweat  of  her  brow.  She 
is  surrounded  by  an  ocean  of  fat  land  studded  with  mines  and 
garnished  with  forests— both  of  fabulous  extent  and  value. 
From  the  wheat-laden  plains  of  the  far  North  to  the  cotton- 
covered  leagues  of  the  South,  there  is  scarcely  an  acre  that  is 
not  fruitful  beyond  any  like  area  elsewhere  in  the  world.  All 
the  people  of  the  earth  could  be  fed  from  the  land  within  a 
circle  of  a  thousand- mile  radius  around  Kansas  City.  Not 
only  could  they  be  fed,  but  all  their  other  necessities  could  be 
supplied.  Iron,  oil,  lumber,  gold,  silver,  coal,  salt — everything 
which  men  must  use,  or  may  well  use,  comes  out  of  this 
magic  circle  of  which  Kansas  City  is  the  center.  Thus  it  is 
not  strange  that  we  see  wonderful  figures  made  by  Kansas 
City's  business  institutions.  Last  year  (1899)  in  her  packing- 
houses 2,646,073  swine  ran  down  a  steep  place  into  hot  water. 
Nearly  a  million  head  of  cattle  rendered  unto  the  packers  the 
things  that  are  the  packers'.  The  Stock  Yards  handled  over 
6,000,000  head  of  hve  stock,  worth  $121,706,632.  Three 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  barrels  of  flour  were  turned 
out  of  her  millls.  The  horse  and  mule  merchants  handled 
31,677  horses  and  mules.  She  received  bushels  of  grain  as 
follows:  wheat,  20,341,100;  corn,  8,682,750;  oats,  2,388,000; 
rye,  183,300;  barley,  17,600.     Kansas  City  sells  more  agricul- 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  1 1 1 

tural  implements  than  any  other  town;  she  has  the  largest  horse 
and  mule  stables  in  the  world  and  the  largest  live-stock  market 
in  the  Union  except  Chicago.  She  is  second  to  Chicago  only 
as  a  railroad  center.  Last  year  her  bank  clearings  were 
$648,270,71 1,  and  on  December  2d  of  last  year  her  bank  de- 
posits were  $49,018,130.  Her  wholesale  business  amounted 
to  $225,000,000. 

The  unexampled  roughness  of  the  early  Kansas  City  has 
been  noted.  The  day  of  decoration  in  time  arrived.  Streets 
were  well  paved.  Unsightly  bluffs  were  dumped  into  hideous 
gulches.  Palaces  were  built.  Engineers  and  gardeners  scat- 
tered gentle  slopes  and  pleasing  curves  in  liberal  profusion. 
Trees  and  flowers  gladden  the  eye,  and  blue-grass  carpeted  the 
hills.  Then  the  park  idea  took  possession  of  the  people,  and 
a  park  system  really  entitled  to  be  called  magnificent  was 
brought  into  existence.  Nearly  two  thousand  acres  of  well- 
chosen  and  well-distributed  park  land  is  justly  the  pride  of  the 
people.  The  roughest  part  of  the  area  is  the  steep  bluff -side 
which  overlooks  the  Union  Station.  It  is  now  covered  with 
squatters'  cabins  and  is  as  unlovely  as  neglect  and  disfiguration 
can  make  it.  Soon  it  will  blossom  as  the  rose,  and  furnish  a 
sweet  retreat  from  the  dust  and  heat  of  the  great  yards  below. 
A  part  of  the  park  system  will  overlook  the  Kansas  Valley,  a 
part  the  Missouri  Valley,  and  other  parts  will  be  in  the  middle 
and  on  the  circumference  of  the  city.  From  the  beautiful 
Country  Club  on  the  south  to  the  stately  bluffs  overlooking  the 
Missouri  Valley  on  the  north,  there  will  be  a  chain  of  charming 
parks  and  boulevards. 


112  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

The  schools  of  Kansas  City  are  likewise  her  pride  and  joy. 
In  1899  their  running  expenses  amounted  to  $525,971.03. 
The  buildings  are  for  the  most  part  modern,  and  the  methods 
of  instruction  are  modeled  after  the  standard  systems  of  the 
educational  world.  Her  High  School  and  her  Manual  Training 
School  prepare  pupils  for  direct  admission  to  the  State  Univer- 
sities of  Missouri  and  Kansas.  The  hospitals  of  Kansas  City 
are  generous  in  capacity  and  are  conducted  admirably.  The 
leading  newspapers  are  the  Journal  and  the  Times,  morning 
papers,  and  the  Star  and  the  World,  evening  papers.  The 
Journal  is  Republican  in  politics,  the  Times  Democratic, 
and  the  evening  papers  are  independent.  No  city  in  the 
Union  has  enjoyed  a  higher  class  of  daily  newspapers  from  a 
very  early  day  than  Kansas  City.  To  their  persistent  public 
energy  is  largely  due  the  creation  of  the  park  system,  the 
building  and  the  rebuilding  of  Convention  Hall,  the  fine  city 
library,  and  a  hundred  other  public  improvements.  The 
.theaters  and  hotels  are  in  advance  of  those  of  any  other  city 
of  like  size  in  the  country,  and  those  best  informed  had  no 
fear  of  failure  in  the  entertainment  of  the  great  company  that 
assembled  in  July,  1900,  for  the  nomination  of  Democratic 
candidates  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States. 

The  great  hall  in  which  the  Democratic  National  Convention 

-was  held  has  just  been  reconstructed.     It  was  originally  built 

less  than  two  years  ago  by  popular  subscription,  and  was  de- 

:  stroyed  by  fire  in  April,  1900.     Before  the  fire  had  been  sub- 

%.dued  a  new  subscription  was  started,  and  the  whole  structure 

has  been  built  anew.     It  will  hold  22,500  people,  and  is  said 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  1 13 

by  critics  to  be  the  most  perfect  building  of  its  kind  in  the 
United  States — if  not  in  the  world.  The  new  building  has  been 
made  almost  fire-proof. 

What  is  to  be  the  future  of  Kansas  City?  The  answer  is  not 
to  be  read  in  the  stars,  but  in  the  broad  acres  of  the  empire 
surrounding  her.  If  fertility  of  soil  and  healthfulness  of  climate 
mean  multiplication  of  people,  and  if  multiplication  of  people 
means  a  great  central  city,  then  Kansas  City — both  Kansas 
Cities — cannot  help  growing  to  a  size  and  an  importance  which 
will  make  their  present  attainments  seem  insignificant.  The 
whole  West  believes  this  is  to  happen. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Story  of  Population. — Interesting  Comparisons  with  Other  Large 
Cities  in  Point  of  Increase  and  Size. 

It  has  been  noted  that  the  "boom"  was,  in  the  end,  scarcely 
more  an  attraction  than  a  detraction  to  the  real  welfare  and 
prosperity  of  Kansas  City.  The  work  of  rehabilitation  was 
rapid  and  complete,  and  to-day,  in  1900,  hardly  a  scar  remains 
over  even  the  deepest  part  of  the  wound.  The  growth  of  the 
city  during  the  last  years  of  the  century  has  been  unparalleled 
in  municipal  history.  The  story  is  best  told  by  the  population 
record.  From  the  three  hundred,  all  told,  of  1849,  there  has 
been  a  wonderful  increase  to  nearly  that  many  thousand.  The 
record  is: 

Population,  Population, 

Kansas  City,  Kansas  City, 

Missouri.  Kansas. 

1849 300  

1860 4,418  

1865 3,500  1,100 

1870 32,263  2,940 

1880 55,785  6,149 

^          1885 124,474  12,500 

^      1 1890 132,416  38,170 

\1895 165,000  42,000 

y899  214,000  55,000 

The  almost  universal  interest   and  pride  envinced  in  the 

mere  numercial  expansion  of  our  leading  centers  of  population 

were  emphasized  by  the  eagerness  with  which  the  bulletins  of 

the  twelfth  census  relating  to  the  chief  cities  were  watched  for 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  1 15 

by  the  public.  This  pride  in  the  growth  of  towns,  however,  is 
not  confined  to  the  universal  Yankee  nation,  but  is  a  singular 
manifestation  among  intelligent  people  of  all  civilized  nations. 
With  us  a  natural  outgrowth  of  this  ambition  to  "outsize"  the 
other  town,  which  engenders  bitter  rivalries,  is  the  tendency  to 
constantly  exaggerate  the  population  figures  in  "off  years"  be- 
tween the  census-taking  dates,  punished  by  the  consequent 
chagrin  which  in  nearly  all  cases  follows  the  publication  of  the 
actual  figures  as  fixed  by  the  official  authority.  There  have 
been  some  disappointments  in  1 900,  but  on  the  whole  the  returns 
are  about  what  might  have  been  expected,  and  the  showing  of 
most  of  the  towns  is  a  fair  one. 

The  Census  Bureau  has  issued  bulletins  showing  the  ag- 
gregate population  of  nearly  all  the  towns  having  100,000  people 
and  upwards,  and  for  all  the  largest  cities.  Here  is  the  list  up 
to  date,  in  the  order  of  population,  with  the  figures  for  the  two 
preceding  enumerations,  added  for  purposes  of  comparison  and 
analyzation : 

Twelfth        Eleventh  Tenth 

Census,  Census,  Census, 

City.  1900.  1890.  1880. 

Greater  New  York 3,437,202  2,506,591  1,918,794 

New  York  proper 1,850,093  1,515,301  1,206,299 

Chicago 1,698,575  1,099,850  503,185 

Philadelphia 1,293,697  1,046,964  847,170 

Brooklyn 1 ,  166,582  806,343  566,663 

St.  Louis 575,238  451,770  350,518 

Boston 560,892  448,477  362,839 

Baltimore 508,957  434,439  332,313 

Cleveland 381,768  261,353  160,146 

Buffalo 352,219  255,664  155,134 

San  Francisco 342,782  298,997  233.559 

Cincinnati 325,902  296,908  255,139 


116  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 


Twelfth         Eleventh         Tenth 
Census,  Census,         Census, 

City.  1900.  1890.  1880. 

Pittsburg 321,616  238,617  156.589 

New  Orleans 287,104  242,039  216,090 

Milwaukee 285,315  204,468  115,587 

Washington 278,718  230,392  177,624 

Newark 246,070  181,830  136,508 

Jersey  City 206,433  163,003  120,722 

Louisville 204,731  161,129  123,758 

Minneapolis 202,718  164,738  46,887 

Providence 175,597  132.146  104,857 

Indianapolis.   169,164  105,436  75,056 

Kansas  City 163,752  132,716  55,785 

•>N.        St.  Paul 163,632  133,156  41,473 

^^  Rochester 162,435  133,896  89,366 

Denver 133,859  106,713  35,629 

Toledo 131,822  81,434  50,137 

Allegheny  City 129,896  105,287  78,682 

Columbus 125,560  88,150  51,647 

Paterson 105,171  78,347  51,031 

Omaha  102,555  140,452  30,518 

Some  of  these  cities  would  make  a  still  better  comparative 
showing  in  aggregate  population  but  for  their  misfortune  of  be- 
ing divided  into  two  or  more  municipalities  by  geographical 
lines.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with  the  Greater  New  York, 
although  that  evil  has  already  been  partially  cured  by  taking  in 
Brooklyn,  etc. 

Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  are  practically  one  city,  despite 
their  differential  names.  So  are  Pittsburg  and  Allegheny,  St. 
Louis  and  East  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  Kansas  City, 
Kas.,  Omaha  and  Council  Bluffs.  New  Oreleans  should  be 
credited  with  a  considerable  population  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  Doubtless  there  are  others  which  suffer 
from  this  fault  even  more  than   some  of   those    named.     If 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  117 

several  such  municipalities  were  consolidated  under  one  name, 
here  would  be  the  approximate  result : 

Greater  New  York   4,002,202 

Boston,  Cambridge,  Chelsea.etc 800,000 

St.  Louis,  East  St.  Louis   625,000 

Pittsburg,  Allegheny  City 481 ,512 

Cincinnati,  Covington,  Newport 410,000 

Minneapolis,  St.  Paul 366,350 

Louisville,  Jeffersonville  225,000 

Kansas  City,  Mo.,  Kansas  City,  Kas 214,000 

The  consolidation  of  the  returns  in  this  manner  is  perfectly 
legitimate  to  the  essential  purpose  of  the  census  in  this  regard, 
which  is  to  show  where  the  great  centers  of  population  are. 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  is  separated  from  Kansas  City,  Kas.,  with 
5 1 ,4 1 8  people ,  by  an  i  maginary  ' '  State  line . ' '  The  intervention 
of  the  Hudson  sets  off  565 ,000  people  from  Greater  New  York. 
There  is  no  sort  of  doubt  that  the  consolidation  of  Brooklyn  and 
the  other  adjoining  cities  with  New  York  proper  had  a  material 
and  moral  effect  abroad,  favorable  not  only  to  New  York  itself, 
but  to  the  whole  country.  It  is  now  known  to  foreigners  that 
the  United  States  contains  the  second  city  of  the  world  in  pop- 
ulation, soon  to  be  the  first,  and  perhaps  the  greatest  center  of 
commerce  and  wealth  in  the  whole  world. 

Students  of  the  subject,  given  much  to  speculate  upon  the 
movements  of  urban  and  suburban  populations,  will  be  particu- 
larly interested  in  the  gross  increase  of  these  various  cities  as 
shown  by  the  last  three  censuses.  The  following  tabulation 
shows  gains  in  their  order  by  the  new  census,  and  also  those  of 
the  two  preceding  censuses,  from  the  official  compendium: 


118  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 


Increase  Increase  Increase 

Cities.                              1890-1900.  1880-90.  1870-80. 

Greater  New  York 930,201  587,797  439,749 

Chicago 598,725  596,665  204,208 

Brooklyn 360,239  239,680  170,564 

New  York  proper 334,792  309,002  264,007 

Philadelphia 246,733  199,794  173,148 

St.  Louis 123,468  101,252  39,604 

Cleveland .  .        .  120,415  101 ,207  38,900 

Boston    112,415  85,638  112,313 

Buffalo 96,555  100,530  37.420 

Pittsburg 82,999  82,228  70,313 

Milwaukee 80,847  88,881  44,147 

Baltimore  74,518  102, 136  64,959 

Newark  64,240  46,322  31,449 

Indianapolis  63,728  30,380  26,812 

Toledo 50,388  31,297  18,553 

Washington 48,326  52,768  38,094 

New  Orleans 45,065  25,949  25,672 

San  Francisco     43.785  60,038  84,486 

Louisville 43,602  37,371  23,005 

Providence    43,451  27,289  35,953 

Jersey  City 43,430  42,281  38,176 

Minneapolis 37,980  1 17,851  33,821 

Columbus 37,410  36,503  20,373 

Kansas  City 30,856  76,931  23,526 

St.  Paul 30,476  91,683  21,443 

Cincinnati 28,994  41 ,769  39,900 

Rochester 28,539  44,530  26,900 

Denver 27,146  71,084  30,870 

Paterson         26,824  27,316  17.452 

Allegheny  City 24,609  26,605  25,502 

Omaha *37,897  109,934  14,435 

^'Decrease. 

The  only  town  which  is  shown  to  have  actually  lost  in  popu- 
lation is  Omaha.     It  makes  the  most  notable  falling  off  of  any 

city  in  the  entire  list.  But  probably  Omaha  has  made  a  gain, 
after  all.  In  the  strenuous  contest  for  leadership  between 
Omaha  and  Kansas  City  and  some  other  Western  towns  in  the 

decade  between   1880  and  1890,  it  was  charged  by  Omaha's 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  119 

rivals  that  in  order  to  "get  there"  she  stuffed  her  census  re- 
turns in  1 890  in  the  most  flagrant  manner  by  copying  hotel 
registers,  etc.,  thereby  more  than  doubling  her  population  on 
paper.  Of  course,  this  was  denied  fiercely,  but  the  figures 
bulletined  this  year,  which  are  undoubtedly  correct,  apparently 
confirm  the  charge,  because  nobody  of  sense  believes  that, 
amidst  the  general  progress  all  around  her,  Omaha  alone  has 
suffered  from  a  decrease  in  population. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Reasons  for  this  Prosperity. — Volume  of  Wholesale  Business. — Grain 

Elevators. — Building  Permits. — Bank  Deposits. — Clearings. — 

Kansas  City  Ranks  Tenth  in  Volume  of  Business. 

There  is  ample  reason  for  the  local  prosperity  which  has 
come  to  Kansas  City.  This  reason  is  that  it  is  the  natural 
metropolis  of  the  richest  territory  in  the  world — in  natural 
wealth.  All  Kansas,  save  the  extreme  northeastern  portion; 
all  Oklahoma,  the  Indian  Territory,  northern  and  western 
Arkansas,  and  a  large  part  of  Texas,  western  Missouri,  and  a 
part  of  Iowa  are  tributary  to  Kansas  City.  Cattle,  corn,  wheat, 
hogs^  lead,  zinc,  lumber,  products  of  a  thousand  kinds,  find  a 
market  in  Kansas  City,  and  there  make  a  demand  for  goods 
and  manufactures  in  return.  During  the  past  year  the  volume 
of  wholesale  business  was  something  over  $200,000,000. 

Grain  elevators  are  centered  here  that  have  a  capacity  of 
6,000,000  bushels,  and  the  amount  of  grain  handled  during 
1899  reached  nearly  50,000,000  bushels. 

The  value  of  building  permits  granted  during  the  year  1 899 
aggregated  $4,160,700,  or  over  $1,000,000  in  excess  of  the 
preceding  year. 

The  amount  of  bank  deposits,  at  the  close  of  the  century, 
was  hardly  less  noticeable  in  point  of  increase.  The  figures 
were  considerably  over  $50,000,000.  Clearing-house  reports 
have  always  been  considered  a  criterion  of  trade  conditions. 


H 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  121 

Upon  the  record  of  the  Kansas  City  clearing-house  the  people 
of  the  city  may  justly  rely  as  an  infallible  index  to  that  mate- 
rial prosperity  which  is  everywhere  in  evidence.  While  the 
national  banks  of  the  city  have  shown  an  annual  increase  of 
nearly  $10,000,000,  the  business  of  the  clearing-house  reached 
a  total  of  $650,000,000.  Kansas  City  occupies  tenth  place 
among  the  cities  of  the  United  States  in  volume  of  business 
done,  and  stands  just  below  Cincinnati,  a  city  much  larger  in 
point  of  population.  Some  of  the  cities  below  Kansas  City 
are:  New  Orleans,  Minneapolis,  Cleveland,  Houston,  Louisville, 
Detroit,  Galveston,  Providence,  Columbus,  Omaha,  Milwaukee, 
Indianapolis,  Buffalo,  St.  Paul,  and  St.  Joseph. 

Although  leader  of  the  world  in  miany  lines,  there  is  no 
other  in  which  the  pre-eminence  of  Kansas  City  is  so  marked 
as  in  its  wholesale  business  in  agricultural  implements.  So  far 
above  competition  is  it  in  this  respect  that  its  supremacy  has 
never  been  challenged. 

Other  cities  may  dispute  among  themselves  the  honor  of 
being  in  second  place,  but  none  has  ever  questioned  the  right 
of  Kansas  City  to  take  first  rank  in  this  respect.  Kansas  City 
does  at  least  double  the  amount  of  business  in  agricultural  im- 
plements transacted  by  any  other  city  in  America. 

Kansas  City  has  five  flour  mills  with  a  combined  capacity 
of  about  7,000  barrels  a  day.  The  product  of  these  mills  is 
now  shipped  to  every  continent  and  to  nearly  every  country  on 
the  earth. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
A  Glance  at  the  Stock-Yard  and  Packing-House  Industries. 

The  packing-house  and  stock-yard  interests  of  Kansas  City 
are  so  closely  allied  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  refer  to  one 
without  the  other.  During  all  the  years  that  have  witnessed 
the  growth  and  development  of  the  Kansas  City  Stock  Yards  the 
packing-houses  have  kept  even  pace,  and  to-day  Kansas  City  is 
not  only  the  second  largest  packing  center  in  the  country,  but 
her  packing  industry  is  also  second  only  to  Chicago's.  Kansas 
City  now  has  five  large  packing-houses  and  a  sixth  is  nearing 
completion.  Those  which  have  been  constantly  employed 
during  the  past  year  in  the  production  of  dressed  meat  and  meat 
products  are:  The  Armour  Packing  Company,  Swift  &  Co., 
Dold  Packing  Company,  Schwarzschild  &  Sulzberger  Co., 
and  George  Fowler,  Sons  &  Co.  These  concerns  slaughtered 
during  the  year  1899:  975,334  cattle,  2,646,073  hogs,  and 
597,673  sheep.  The  total  value  of  products  was  $90,000,000. 
Over  10,000  men  are  employed  every  day  in  the  year,  repre- 
senting a  pay-roll  of  about  $20,000,000  annually. 

The  plant  of  the  Cudahy  Packing  Company,  which  will  be 
finished  by  March  1st,  will  cost  over  $1,000,000  and  employ 
about  2,000  operatives.  The  total  value  of  its  six  packing- 
houses is  $8,850,000.  With  the  completion  of  the  Cudahy 
plant  their  total  daily  killing  capacity  will  be  11,700  cattle, 
34,000  hogs,  and  12,500  sheep. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  123 

The  Armour  Packing  Company  is  the  out-growth  of  the 
first  packing  business  established  in  Kansas  City.  When  the 
firm  of  Plankington  &  Armour  dissolved,  the  present  company 
was  organized.  It  is  the  largest  of  all  in  point  of  daily  capac- 
ity and  volume  of  business.  The  present  head  of  the  vast 
establishment  is  K.  B.  Armour.  The  plant  is  situated  near  the 
bank  of  the  Missouri  River  in  the  West  Bottoms  about  midway 
beiween  the  plants  of  George  Fowler,  Sons  &  Co.  and  the 
Jacob  Dold  Packing  Company.  The  Armour  Packing  Com- 
pany is  the  largest  employer  of  labor  in  Kansas  City,  having 
nearly  3,000  men  employed  regularly  on  its  pay-roll.  The 
standard  brands  of  products  of  the  Armour  Packing  Com- 
pany by  their  excellence  and  uniformity  are  known  all  over 
the  world.  This  company  has  been  especially  fortunate  in 
securing  many  large  army  contracts  both  from  this  country 
and  European  governments. 

The  Kansas  City  Stock  Yards,  in  point  of  convenience  and 
equipment,  excel  any  other  yards  in  the  world.  With  their 
chutes,  alleys,  pens,  and  tracks,  they  cover  161  acres  of  land. 
Situated  in  the  heart  of  the  finest  stock-raising  land  in  the 
United  States,  Kansas  City  is  everywhere  looked  upon  as  the 
natural  center  of  the  live-stock  industry  of  the  country,  and  the 
rapid  and  continuous  development  of  her  live-stock  and  packing 
business  fulfills  the  roseate  prophecies  that  were  made  by  her 
friends  years  ago,  when  Kansas  City  was  but  the  way-station 
where  a  few  cattle  were  fed  on  their  way  to  Chicago  from  the 
far  Southwest.  The  Kansas  City  Stock  Yards  were  started  by 
two  men  in  1867.  At  that  time  the  "yards"  consisted  of  a  few 
pens,  where  cattle  were  fed.     From  that  time  to  this  there  has 


124  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

not  been  a  year  when  the  business  of  the  yards  has  not  shown 
gains  over  the  previous  twelve  months.  In  all  this  period, 
when  progressive  business  men  were  uniting  to  build  up  Kansas 
City's  live-stock  interests,  there  were  those  who  foresaw  the 
position  that  this  city  would  one  day  take  in  the  packing  world, 
and  as  a  natural  consequence  the  packing  business  kept  pace 
with  the  live-stock  business. 

By  enterprise  and  the  natural  demands  for  greater  capacity 
and  better  equipment,  the  Kansas  City  Stock  Yards  have  been 
made  the  standard  upon  which  all  other  yards  have  been  pat- 
terned. Every  pen  in  the  yards  is  supplied  with  pure  fresh 
water  and  connected  with  a  perfect  sewer  system.  Four  hun- 
dred cars  of  stock  can  be  handled  at  one  time,  and  this  gives 
employment  to  about  300  yardmen.  The  cattle  department 
has  a  capacity  of  25,000  head  per  day,  and  is  divided  into 
blocks  and  pens  most  conveniently  arranged.  The  alleys  and 
pens  are  paved  with  vitrified  brick,  and  on  the  tops  of  the  di- 
viding fences  are  board  walks  for  the  convenience  of  the  patrons 
and  stock-raisers  in  getting  about  the  yards.  All  the  other  pens 
and  departments  are  in  keeping  with  the  cattle  department. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Kansas  City  in  the  Present. — Retrospect. — Prospect. 

In  this  Western  city  now  center  twenty  systems  of  railroads, 
radiating  58,225  miles.  Over  these  roads  130,000  trains  ar- 
rive and  depaft  each  year.  These  railroads  traverse  thirty 
States  and  Territories,  and  there  are  1,550  miles  of  switch 
track  in  the  city.  One  hundred  and  ninety  passenger  and  337 
freight  trains  arrive  and  depart  daily,  handling  on  an  average 
1 18,000  tons  of  freight;  between  5,000  and  6,000  men  are  em- 
ployed by  the  railroads. 

The  factories  which  are  located  in  Kansas  City  give  em- 
ployment to  20,000  people,  and  each  year  products  to  the  value 
of  $100,000,000  are  sent  out  into  the  world. 

Architects  and  artists  have  pronounced  the  new  Federal 
building,  in  design  and  construction,  one  that  will  rank  with  any 
of  its  class  in  the  country.  The  west  wing  was  recently  com- 
pleted at  a  cost  of  $2,000,000. 

Many  big  things  Kansas  City  has  done  in  its  day,  but  the 
most  notable  thing  it  ever  did  was  the  building  of  the  new  Con- 
vention Hall.  Hardly  had  the  Democratic  National  Cenven- 
tion  elected  to  meet  in  Kansas  City,  when  the  news  was  flashed 
over  the  country  that  this  much-advertised  building  was  in 
flames.  Nothing  daunted  by  the  calamity,  the  city  at  once 
began  the  work  of  rebuilding,  and  in  sixty  days,  by  working 
night  and  day  and  at  an  enormous  expenditure,  a  larger  and 


126-  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

more  complete  structure  was  erected  and  ready  for  the  national 
delegates.  This,  together  with  the  fact  that  it  was  built  by  the 
people  of  Kansas  City  and  opened  without  debt,  though  it  cost 
$225,000,  constitutes  its  right  to  be  recognized  as  the  largest 
thing  Kansas  City  ever  achieved.  For  conventions,  horse 
shows,  fairs,  musical  festivals,  pageants,  balls,  athletic  sports, 
there  Is  no  other  place  in  the  country  that  can  better  —that 
can  so  well  —accommodate  the  public. 

Ten  years  ago  Kansas  City  had  no  parks,  no  boulevards,  no 
public  pleasure-grounds  of  any  sort.  It  was  just  making  up  its 
mind  to  have  them.  It  had  no  parks  at  all  in  1889.  In  1899 
it  had  1,691.4  acres  of  parks  and  11.45  miles  of  boulevards. 
There  are  but  one  or  two  cities  in  the  United  States — or,  for 
that  matter,  in  the  world — that  can  equal  this  showing,  regardless 
of  population.  For  its  size  Kansas  City  now  has  the  greatest 
park  acreage  in  the  country.  It  has  an  acre  of  park  for  every 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  people. 

When  the  system  is  complete,  the  parks  will  nearly  all  be 
connected  by  the  boulevards,  so  that  they  will  form  a  continu- 
ous chain,  as  it  were,  very  similar  to  the  beautiful  chain  of 
pleasure-grounds  about  Boston.  The  idea  has  been  to  give 
each  neighborhood,  as  far  as  possible,  its  own  particular  place 
of  recreation,  and  at  the  same  time  means  for  conveniently 
reaching  the  parks  of  other  neighborhoods  as  well.  Already,  in 
its  incomplete  state,  even  the  least  imaginative  can  begin  to 
appreciate  what  the  finished  work  will  be. 

If  the  people  of  Kansas  City  have  reason  to  congratulate 
themselves  on  the  growth  of  commerce  and  the  advance  in  art 
which  has  been  noted,  they  have  equal  reason  to  feel  a  sense 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  127 

of  pride  in  the  manner  in  which  protection  from  fire  is  afforded 
to  all  the  buildings,  from  the  smallest  cabin  to  the  tallest  sky- 
scraper, which  are  to  be  found  within  its  limits.  Its  fire  de- 
partment has  for  years  been  known  the  country  over  for  swift 
and  efficient  work,  and  put  its  claims  to  the  test  in  1900  by 
sending  a  crew  of  men  and  a  steamer  to  London,  where  they 
met  the  representative  fire-fighters  of  all  nations  of  Europe, 
and  so  completely  outclassed  them  that  there  was  no  question 
as  regarded  superiority. 

The  best  index  of  the  true  prosperity  of  a  city  is  to  be  found 
in  the  number  and  condition  of  its  schools.  A  certificate  from 
one  of  the  ward  or  high  schools  of  Kansas  City  is  accepted 
without  question  in  any  primary  or  higher  educational  institution 
in  the  United  States.  There  are  thirty-nine  public  schools 
under  the  direction  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

The  excellence  of  these  schools  is  due  not  only  to  the  fact 
that  the  city  has  had  for  years  a  non-partisan  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, from  which  it  has  been  the  scrupulous  endeavor  of  all 
those  who  had  the  welfare  of  the  cause  at  heart  to  keep  any 
suspicion  of  political  demarcation,  but  also  to  the  fact  that  the 
members  of  this  board  have  been  and  are  among  the  most 
industrious,  faithful,  clear-thinking,  and  far-seeing  business  and 
professional  men  of  whom  the  city  can  boast. 

To  make  Kansas  City  a  good  place  to  live  in  has  been  the 
object  of  its  many  endeavors.  The  city  has  undoubtedly  been 
made  most  pleasant  and  convenient  for  all  who  desire  to  make 
it  their  home.  Hills  of  all  kinds  and  degrees  of  steepness  have 
been  leveled  to  make  place  for  the  palatial  residence  or  the 
lowly  cottage,  as  the  case  may  be. 


128  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

Special  residence  quarters  have  been  developed,  built  up, 
and  occupied.  But  in  all  of  the  change  there  has  been  a 
marked  absence  of  that  spirit  of  exclusion  which  has  character- 
ized the  home-building  of  so  many  cities  of  the  country. 

Kansas  City  has  some  of  the  finest  residences,  both  in 
architecture  and  furnishings,  to  be  found  anywhere  in  America. 

Another  noticeable  feature  of  the  city  is  its  many  elegant 
office  buildings.  When  compared  with  any  other  city  of  its 
size  in  the  country,  it  is  unsurpassed.  That  this  should  be  so  is 
a  compliment  to  the  far-sightedness  and  progressiveness  of  the 
various  interests  which  go  to  insure  its  commercial  standing 
among  the  great  cities  of  the  country.  The  location  of  these 
buildings  with  reference  to  the  other  financial  centers  of  the 
city  is  perhaps  as  advantageous,  when  the  present  business 
thoroughfares  are  taken  into  consideration,  as  could  be  wished, 
and  about  them  and  within  their  walls  the  business  of  the  great 
Southwest  is  transacted. 

In  the  stability  of  such  buildings  is  perhaps  best  told  the 
future  greatness  of  Kansas  City,  and  many  proposed  additions 
to  their  already  commendable  size  and  number  are  now  being 
made  to  keep  up  with  the  tide  of  advancing  commercial  pros- 
perity. In  connection  with  the  other  interests  of  the  city  it  Is 
well  to  remember  the  advantages  which  await  the  lawyer,  doc- 
tor, dentist,  man  of  business,  or  professional  man  who  might 
wish  to  cast  his  lot  with  the  West,  and  to  show  how  thoroughly 
well  Kansas  City  can  take  care  of  any  and  all  business  enter- 
prises of  the  right  kind  that  wish  to  enter  her  gates. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Ranks  with  the  Best.— Kansas  City  is  Greatest  in  Many  Things  and 
Great  in  All. 

Kansas  City  is  the  greatest  city  in  the  world  in  a  number 
of  things,  and  is  entitled  to  rank  among  the  first  and  best  in  all. 

Here  are  a  few  facts  which  go  to  establish  the  supremacy 
of  the  metropolis  of  the  West.  They  are  good  things  to  know 
and  good  things  to  remember. 

Kansas  City  is  the  largest  agricultural  implement  market  in 
the  world. 

Kansas  City  has  the  largest  Southern  lumber  jobbing  busi- 
ness of  any  city  in  the  United  States. 

Kansas  City  has  second  place  as  a  live-stock  market. 

Kansas  City  has  the  largest  horse  and  mule  sales  stables  in 
the  world. 

Kansas  City  covers  twenty-five  square  miles  of  territory. 

Kansas  City  is  the  second  greatest  railroad  center  in  the 
world. 

Kansas  City  is  practically  the  geographical  center  of  the 
United  States. 

Kansas  City  has  a  population  of  200,000  and  60,000  more 
just  across  the  State  line. 

Kansas  City  packing-houses  represent  an  investment  of 
$30,000,000. 


130  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

Kansas  City  occupies  ninth  place  in  the  amount  of  bank 
clearings. 

Kansas  City  is  the  second  largest  packing  center  in  the 
world. 

Kansas  City  is  the  largest  city  west  of  St.  Louis  and  east 
of  San  Francisco. 

Kansas  City  is  the  practical  head  of  navigation  on  the  Mis- 
souri River. 

Kansas  City  has  the  largest  coal  fields  within  a  radius  of 
1 00  miles  of  any  city  west  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

Kansas  City  has  the  lowest  price  for  manufacturers'  coal 
of  any  city  of  over  20,000  inhabitants  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River. 

Kansas  City  is  nineteenth  in  the  value  of  its  manufactured 
products. 

Kansas  City  is  practically  the  geographical  center  of  the 
United  States,  omitting  Alaska,  Hawaii,  Porto  Rico,  and  the 
Philippines. 

Kansas  City  has  the  lowest  death-rate  of  any  city  of  equal 
population  in  the  United  States. 

Kansas  City  has  507  teachers  and  27,314  pupils  in  its 
public  schools. 

Kansas  City  has  43  school  buildings,  valued  at  $2,300,000. 

Kansas  City  ships  its  packing-house  products  to  every  civ- 
ilized country  in  the  world. 

Kansas  City  has  the  greatest  Live  Stock  Exchange  build- 
ing in  the  world. 

Kansas  City  has  the  second  largest  park  in  the  United 
States,  containing  1,300  acres. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  131 

Kansas  City  is  the  second  city  in  the  United  States  in  re- 
gard to  the  area  of  its  parks.  The  total  park  area  is  1 ,600 
acres. 

Kansas  City's  public  debt,  exclusive  of  $3,100,000  water- 
works bonds,  is  $656,900.  The  water -works  bonds  are  re- 
deemed from  rentals. 

Kansas  City  owns  its  own  system  of  water-works,  and  the 
plant  is  rapidly  paying  for  itself. 

Kansas  City  has  a  taxable  valuation  of  $70,000,000. 

Kansas  City  handled  $121,706,632  worth  of  live  stock  in 
1899. 

Kansas  City  received  2,027,326  cattle,  including  calves; 
3,014,923  hogs  and  950,296  sheep,  a  total  of  5,992,545  head 
of  live  stock,  in  1899. 

Kansas  City  received  in  1899,  20,341 ,  100  bushels  of  wheat, 
8,682,750  bushels  of  corn,  2,388,000  bushels  of  oats,  183,300 
bushels  of  rye,  and  17,600  bushels  of  barley. 

Kansas  City  did  a  wholesale  business  of  $225,000,000  in 
1899. 

During  the  past  twelve  months  6 1 8  new  concerns  have  been 
started  up  in  Kansas  City. 

Kansas  City  mills  shipped  347,160  barrels  of  flour  in  1899. 

Kansas  City  packing-houses  turned  out  $90,000,000  worth 
of  products  last  year  and  slaughtered  975,334  cattle,  2,646,073 
hogs,  and  597,673  sheep. 

Kansas  City  had  on  deposit  in  its  banks  December  2,  1899, 
$49,018,130. 

Kansas  City's  stock  yards  extend  over  a  quarter-section  of 
land. 


132  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

Kansas  City's  packing-house  plants  occupy  half  a  quarter- 
section  of  land. 

Kansas  City  packers  have  a  daily  killing  capacity  of  1 1 ,700 
cattle,  34,000  hogs,  and  12,550  sheep. 

Kansas  City  received   1 17,333  cars  of  live  stock  in  1899. 

Kansas  City  slaughtered  rnore  cattle  and  hogs  in  1 899  than 
Omaha  and  St.  Louis  combined. 

Kansas  City  has  4,800  telephones  in  daily  use,  having 
direct  connection  with  440  outside  toll  stations.  It  has  four 
exchanges.  Its  long-distance  service  puts  it  in  communica- 
tion with  the  principal  points  in  thirty-two  States. 

Kansas  City  has  a  banking  capital  of  $7,750,000,  including 
trust  companies. 

Kansas  City's  real-estate  transfers  in  1899  amounted  to 
nearly  $25,000,000. 

Kansas  City  handled  the  past  year  31,667  horses  and 
mules. 

Kansas  City  has  170  miles  of  paved  streets. 

Kansas  City  has  10,31  7men  employed  in  her  packing-houses 
and  stockyards,  and  51,585  are  supported  by  this  industry 
alone. 

Kansas  City  has  twenty-eight  grain  elevators  with  a  storage 
capacity  of  6,484,000  bushels  and  an  aggregate  handling  capac- 
ity of  1,468,000. 

Kansas  City  has  five  mills  with  a  capacity  of  7 ,000  barrels 
of  flour  per  day. 

Kansas  City's  postoffice  receipts  in  1899  were  $672,360.50 
and  something  like  175,672,000  pieces  of  mail  matter  were 
handled. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  133 

Kansas  City  has  twenty-three  systems,  including  two  belt 
lines,  of  railroad,  with  thirty  railroads  and  thirty-two  fast  freight 
lines  represented,  being  the  second  largest  railroad  center  in 
the  world. 

Kansas  City  spent  $525,97 1 .03  the  past  year  upon  her  pub- 
lic schools,  the  per  capita  expenditure  being  $23.43. 

The  postal  business  of  Kansas  City  exceeds  any  city  of 
equal  importance  in  the  United  States. 

Kansas  City's  Convention  Hall  has  the  greatest  seating 
capacity  of  any  building  of  like  character  in  the  world. 

Kansas  City  has  160  miles  of  street  railway. 

Kansas  City  ships  45,000  car-loads  of  fresh  meat  and  pack- 
ing-house products  annually. 

Kansas  City  has  twenty-one  grain  elevators,  with  a  storage 
capacity  of  6,000,000  bushels,  and  a  daily  handling  and  dis- 
charging capacity  of  1 ,500,000  bushels. 

Kansas  City  has  a  retail  business  aggregating  $80,000,000 
annually. 

Kansas  City  employs  20,000  hands  in  its  manufacturing 
business. 


LOCAL  LIST  OF  CONTRIBUTORS  TO  ENTERTAINMENT  FUND. 


American  Type  Founders  Co. 

Allen  &  Decker. 

Burd  &  Fletcher  Printing  Co. 

Brown,  Chas.  E.,  Printing  Co. 

Burnap,  F.  P.,  Stat,  and  P't'g  Co. 

Berkowitz  Envelope  Co. 

Banta,  Harry  S. 

Black,  E.  D. 

Bankers'  &  Merchants'  Lith.  Co. 

Brent,  W.  T.  &  R.  H. 

Bramhall  Printing  Co. 

Berry  Printing  Co. 

Benedict  Paper  Co. 

Bovard,  John  C. 

Bunker  Printing  Co. 

Burke-Nelson  Engraving  Co. 

Creed,  W.  H. 

Cline  &  Emrick. 

Carlton  &  Rose. 

Dockery  Printing  Co. 

Electric  Printing  Co. 

Engel,  H.  &  Son. 

Graham  Paper  Co. 

Great  Western  Type  Foundry. 

Gaugh,  Geo.  G. 

Gerard  &  Brown. 

Hudson- Kimberly  Pub.  Co. 

Hudson,  M.  H. 


Hailman  Printing  Co. 
Horn  Printing  Co. 
Jaccard  Jewelry  Co. 
Kansas  City  Paper  House. 
Kellogg,  A.  N.,  Newspaper  Co. 
Kennedy,  Press  J. 
Kansas  City  Printing  Co. 
Kansas  City  Engraving  Co. 
Lechtman  Printing  Co. 
La  Rue-Caton  Printing  Co. 
Loveland,  E.  0.  &  Co. 
Millett,  H.  S.,  Publ.  Co. 
Murray,  Chas.  T. 
Miller,  W.  H.  Jr. 
Neff,  J.  H.  &  Co. 
Pantagraph  Printing  Co. 
Rigby  Bindery  Co. 
Scotford  Stamp  &  Stationery  Co. 
Salmon,  W.  M. 
Seip  Printing  Co. 
Tiernan-Havens  Printing  Co. 
Teachenor-Bartberger  Eng.  Co. 
A.  E.  Tonkin  &  Co. 
Tomlinson-Bryant  &  Douglass 

Printing  Co. 
Union  Bank  Note  Co. 
Williams.  T.  B. 
Woody  Printing  Co. 


FOREIGN  LIST  OF  CONTRIBUTORS  TO  ENTERTAINM'T  FUND. 


Ault-WiborgCo.,  Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Brown  &  Clark  Paper  Co., 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Chandler  &  Price  Co., 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Carpenter  Paper  Co.,  Omaha, Neb. 
Dexter  Folder  Co., 

Pearl  River,  N.  Y. 
Hellmuth,  Chas.,  Chicago,  111. 
Jaenecke  Printing  Ink  Co., 

Newark,  N.  J. 
Johnson,  Chas.  Enue,  &  Co., 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Latham  Mach.  Co.,  Chicago,  111. 
Oswego  Mach.  Works,  The, 

Oswego,  N.  Y. 


Queen  City  Printing  Ink  Co  , 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Sheridan,  T.  W.  &  C.  B., 

Chicago,  111. 
Scott,  Walter  &  Co., 

Plainfield,  N.  J. 
Thalman  Printing  Ink  Co., 

St.  Louis,  Mo 
Ullman,  Sigmund,  Co., 

New  York,  N.  Y. 
Van  Aliens  &  Boughton, 

New  York,  N.  Y. 
Whitlock  P't'g  Press  Co.,  The, 

Derby,  Conn. 
Weston,  Byron  Co.,  Dalton,  Mass. 
Mergenthaler  Linotype  Co. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  KANSAS  CITY  TYPOTHET^E. 
WILLIAM  J.  BERKOWITZ. 

Among  the  list  of  representative  printers  who  gathered  in 
the  city  of  Chicago  in  1887  to  organize  the  United  Typothetas 
of  America,  we  find  the  name  of  Peter  H.  Tiernan,  of  Kansas 
City;  and  following  that  event,  on  November  12,  1887,  the 
Kansas  City  Typothetas  was  organized  with  a  membership  of 
twelve,  and  Mr.  Tiernan  was  elected  its  first  President,  Or- 
ganized with  a  view  of  developing  and  fostering  a  kindly  feeling 
among  the  master  printers  and  of  improving  the  trade,  assisting 
one  another  when  called  upon,  it  has  proven  to  be  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  printing  interests  in  Kansas  City. 

All  great  achievements  are  of  slow  growth,  and  it  was  no 
exception  here.  The  petty  jealousies  of  contemporaries  in  bus- 
iness were  manifest  to  a  very  considerable  degree,  and  it  was 
only  by  extraordinary  effort  that  any  printers  could  be  induced 
to  affiliate  with  the  Typothetas.  The  fear  of  surrendering  in- 
dividual rights  or  the  danger  of  yielding  in  the  rivalry  for  bus- 
iness was  the  great  barrier  to  affiliation. 

The  experience  of  Kansas  City  was  doubtless  the  experi- 
ience  of  other  cities.  Printers  are  not  given  to  associate  with 
one  another,  and  it  requires  unusual  methods  to  bring  them 
together  and  bridge  the  imaginary  chasm  that  keeps  them 
apart. 


136  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

From  1887  to  1893  the  Typothetas  continued  its  perfunc- 
tory existence  by  electing  its  officers  and  selecting  its  delegates 
to  attend  the  Annual  Convention  of  the  U.  T.  A.,  and  probably 
calling  a  meeting  of  the  Association  to  hear  the  report  of  these 
delegates;  but  there  was  no  life  and  no  fellowship,  merely  the 
desperate  rivalry  of  cutting  prices  and  deterioration  of  values 
in  all  that  pertained  to  the  noble  Art  Preservative. 

Then  came  the  revival  of  learning;  at  least  an  effort  was 
made  on  the  part  of  those  members  who  drank  from  the  foun- 
tain of  the  U.  T.  A.  Convention  to  spread  the  gospel  of  educa- 
tion among  their  fellow-printers  and  bring  about  a  better  knowl- 
edge of  the  cost  of  production  in  order  to  bring  about  an 
-adequate  revenue.  Committees  on  price  for  composition, 
presswork,  binding,  etc.,  were  appointed.  Meetings  were  held 
every  day  and  a  spirft  of  comradeship  and  goodfellowship  among 
the  members  of  the  Typothetas  was  manifested,  and  the  great 
bridge  that  divided  them  seemed  to  grow  weaker  and  weaker, 
acquaintanceship  grew  with  friendship  and  bitter  jealousy  was 
sweetened  by  confidences. 

At  this  time  there  developed  the  fact  that  the  smaller 
printer  would  not  join  the  Typothetas  and  the  reason  given — 
because  the  Typothetas  was  composed  of  only  big  firms  and  the 
smaller  ones  could  not  hope  for  recognition — argument  was 
useless.  The  Typothetas  continued  its  membership  of  15-20, 
and  another  organization,  called  the  "  Employing  Printers'  Asso- 
ciation" was  organized,  Mr.  Geo.  L.  Berry,  President,  with  a 
membership  of  65,  including  all  Typothetas  members;  holding 
monthly  meetings  in  the  way  of  dinners,  on  the  dollar  dinner 
plan;  at   these  meetings,  which  proved  exceedingly  sociable, 


/-J>.eu)f(v  AC^V^ ' 


rJ.  MfrA^c. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  137 

practical  and  instructive  papers  were  read  touching  on  sub- 
jects of  direct  business  importance,  followed  by  interchange 
of  opinions,  all  lending  an  influence  for  a  better  appreciation  of 
the  printing  business  and  its  place  among  the  commercial 
enterprises  of  the  city,  as  well  as  a  kindlier  regard  among 
those  engaged  to  carry  it  forward. 

The  Employing  Printers'  Associatoin  continued  to  flourish  for 
about  two  years,  when  its  most  active  members  joined   the 
Typothetas,  and  it  is  with  pleasure  we  are  able  to  announce  the- 
present  membership  of  that  local  body  to  number  31   active 
and  7  associate  members. 

Association,  is  after,  all  the  only  weapon  for  breaking  away 
the  barriers  that  divide  men  in  the  same  line  of  business.  How 
the  narrow  prejudices  of  years  grow  deeper  as  competition 
grows  severer  and  business-getting  grows  more  difficult!  It 
was  an  old  fallacy  that  men  engaged  in  the  same  kind  of  bus- 
iness as  yourself  were  mean  and  contemptible,  and  you  alone 
were  the  "gentleman"  and  only  entitled  to  patronage;  but  when 
acquaintance  is  made,  meeting  one  another  in  business  gath- 
erings, we  discover  in  our  adversaries  virtues  never  dreamed 
of  and  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  that  are  the  basis  ot  honor- 
able business  methods;  we  must  acknowledge  our  error  and 
give  to  every  man  due  credit  for  the  things  he  does,  for  the 
principles  he  advocates,  for  the  honorable  methods  he  pursues, 
and  one  is  grateful  to  find  that  "there  are  others  who  are  just 
as  good  as  we." 

It  was  in  the  fall  of  1896,  during  the  time  of  the  first 
great  printers'  strike,  that  the  members  of  the  Kansas  ^City 
Typothetas  fully  realized  the  advantage  of  association,  and  the 


138  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

adage  that  "all  things  happen  for  the  best"  was  exemplified  in 
more  ways  than  one.  As  a  result  of  that  trouble  there  has 
been  formed  a  brotherhood  among  the  members  of  the  Kansas 
City  Typothetae  that  stands  for  the  protection  of  their  individual 
and  united  interests,  infusing  the  spirit  of  confidence  and  help- 
fulness and  integrity.  This  is  in  keeping  with  progressive 
commercial  methods  of  to-day  among  all  classes  of  business 
men  who  are  engaged  in  the  earnest  worlc  of  advancing  their 
own  welfare  and  the  welfare  of  the  community  in  which  they 
live. 

In  the  printed  proceedings  of  the  eleventh  Annual  Conven- 
tion of  the  U.  T.  A.,  1897,  pages  20-28,  the  report  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  contains  in  full  the  "War  that  Was,"  making  it 
accessible  to  every  employing  printer.  This  able  presentation 
of  the  whole  story  is  the  work  of  the  committee  composed  of 
Messrs.  A.  S.  Kimberly,  B.  F.  Burd,  and  J.  D.  Havens.  Here 
is  set  forth  the  "unity  of  action,  the  excellent  management  and 
the  decisive  results  obtained  by  members  of  the  Kansas  City 
Typothetae"  during  the  period  of  the  first  great  difference  with 
the  Typographical  Union,  which  in  the  highest  degree  evidenced 
the  truth  of  the  motto,  "United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall." 
The  great  strike  of  1899-1900  is  too  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the 
printers  of  the  United  States  to  need  any  comment  here.  Its 
detailed  history  will,  no  doubt,  be  presented  at  the  fourteenth 
Annual  Convention.  The  steadfast  friendship  of  the  men  who 
suffered  and  bore  the  brunt  of  the  trouble  must  stand  out  as 
a  living  evidence  of  the  benefit,  the  advantage,  and  the  virtue 
of  an  United  Typothetae. 


1.  M.  BERKOWITZ. 

2.  N.  i,e;chtman. 

3.  E.  G.  BARTBERGER. 

4.  ROGER  CUNNINGHAM. 

5.  C.  B.  DART. 


6.  H.  S,  GAINES. 

7.  CHAS.  VEASEY. 

8.  J.  H.  BRANDIMORE. 

9.  P.  J.  KENNEDY. 
10    S.  F.  WOODY. 


11.  R.  B.  TEACHENOR. 

12.  W.  M.  SAI^MON. 

13.  F.  H.  HORN. 

14.  C.  E.  HORN. 

15.  FRANK  BARHYDT. 


1.  C.  M.  SELPH.  6.  WALTER  J.  ROSE.  11.  FRANK  P.  WILLIAMS. 

2.  IRVIN  T.  BUNKER.  7.  EMMETT  LOVELAND.    12.  H.  S.  BANTA. 

3.  M.  E.  GERARD.  8.  CHAS.   MURRAY.  13.  GEO.  GAUGH. 

4.  E.  N.  BROWN.  9.  S.  G.  SPENCER.  14.  EDMUND  D.  BLACK. 

5.  C.  CARLTON.  10.  E.  C.  BURNAP.  15.  CHAS.  J.  PRIES. 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  139 

The  intense  interest  and  the  effort  for  self-preservation 
during  the  late  printers'  trouble  made  it  imperative  for  mem- 
bers of  the  Typothetas  to  meet  every  day,  and  the  hour  most 
advantageous  for  these  daily  gatherings  proved  to  be  the  noon 
hour.  The  necessity  gave  thought  to  the  need  of  T3^otheta5 
rooms  and  the  serving  of  noon-hour  lunch.  The  liberality  of 
the  supply  houses  took  form  and  shape  in  the  way  of  liberal 
subscriptions  to  pay  for  furnishing  for  the  rooms,  and  to  Messrs. 
A.  D.  L.  Hamilton,  of  the  Graham  Paper  Co.,  and  M.  V.  Wat- 
son, of  the  Kansas  City  Paper  House,  is  due  the  special  credit 
for  bringing  about  the  happy  result,  securing  liberal  contributions 
from  many  firms. 

Mr.  B.  F.  Burd  and  Mr.  S.  G.  Spencer,  committee  on 
furnishing  the  rooms,  received  the  thanks  of  the  association  for 
the  superintending  and  selection  of  furnishings,  and  due  credit 
of  expenditure  of  time  and  money  was  given  at  a  "house- 
warming"  on  the  evening  of  May  3,  1900,  when  the  new  club- 
rooms  were  formally  "opened." 

It  is  proper  that  there  should  be  recorded  here  the  senti- 
ment of  the  Typothetas,  so  beautifully  expressed  on  that  occasion 
by  Mr.  F.  D.  Crabbs,  who  said: 

"A  stranger  among  us  to-night,  witnessing  this  brilliant  func- 
tion in  this  gorgeously  furnished  room,  might  well  inquire,  'Do 
we  celebrate  victory  or  peace?'  The  prompt  emphatic  answer 
answer  would  be,  'Both;  one  preceding  the  other  but  a  little,  as 
the  flush  of  dawn  before  the  full  brightness  of  day';  and  I  wish 
to  emphasize  the  fact  that  both  are  ours  and  nobly  won ,  victory 
first  and  peace  following.  In  celebrating  an  occasion  like  this 
we  should  not  be  influenced  by  any  feelings  of  antagonism,  but 


140  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

rather  by  a  sweet  reasonableness  toward  those  who  went  down 
before  us  in  defeat.  The  Typothetas,  looking  into  its  own 
heart,  weighing  its  own  motives,  subjecting  itself  to  a  rigorous 
introspection,  should  be  and  is  content.  The  task  its  members 
was  forced  to  assume  five  months  ago  is  finished,  why  should 
we  not  rejoice?  It  is  human  nature  to  find  some  channel 
through  which  its  currents  may  flow.  Here  we  bring  memo- 
ries and  hopes  and  are  satisfied." 

The  master  printers  of  Kansas  City  are  to-day  a  body  of 
business  men,  recognized  as  a  potent  factor  in  the  upbuilding 
of  Kansas  City.  They  make  a  representative  showing  of  in- 
vested capital  in  the  statistics  of  the  census  of  Kansas  City's 
manufacturing  interests,  and  employ  their  proportion  of  skilled 
mechanics  in  keeping  with  the  population  of  our  progressive 
city.  By  the  quality  and  quantity  of  their  product  they  give 
the  impress  of  progress  and  the  evidence  of  advancement, 
keeping  in  touch  with  every  forward  step  in  the  improvement 
of  the  Art  of  Printing,  making  Kansas  City  "a  good  place  for 
good  printing." 

In  the  membership  of  our  commercial  bodies,  the  members 
of  the  Kansas  City  Typothetas  are  well  represented.  In  the 
Commercial  Club  many  important  offices  have  been  held  by 
master  printers,  and  in  the  Manufacturers'  Association  no  other 
class  of  manufacturers  are  so  well  represented  on  the  roster  of 
active  membership  as  are  the  printers,  and  some  of  the  im- 
portant offices  and  committees  include  T3^othetae  men. 

In  the  order  here  named  these  gentlemen  served  as  Presi- 
dents of  the  Kansas  City  Typothetas: 


•l-  -  w  ^ 
-:    o 


'Wg 


X  O     ■ 


%  >  73  >d 


Kansas  City,  Missouri.  141 

Mr.  Peter  H.  Tiernan,     -     -    1887-1890. 

Mr.  Franklin  Hudson,      -     -     1890-1892. 

Mr.  J.  D.  Havens,      -     -     -     1892-1893. 

Mr.  F.  D.  Crabbs,      -     -     -     1893-1896. 

Mr.  W.  J.  Berkowitz,      -     -     1896-1897. 

Mr.  B.  F.  Burd.    -     -     -     -     1897-1898. 

Mr.  J.  D.  Frame,       -     -     -     1898-1899. 

Mr.  Cusil  Lechtman,  -  -  1899-1900. 
During  the  fourteen  years  of  its  existence  three  of  our 
prominent  and  most  active  associates  have  died.  Death  loves 
a  shining  mark,  and  in  the  taking  away  of  Peter  H.  Tiernan, 
Wm.  A.  Lawton,  and  Robert  Hart,  the  Typothetas  suffered  a 
keen  loss  and  the  city  was  deprived  of  three  most  valued 
citizens. 

Fitting  expressions  of  regard  and  remembrance  have  been 
recorded  in  the  Annual  Proceedings  of  the  U.  T.  A.,  but  the 
influence  of  their  lives  and  the  high  ideals  which  they  cherished 
and  worked  for  will  always  prove  an  inspiration  for  good  to  their 
associates,  and  their  memory  will  be  an  influence  to  strengthen 
and  hold  together  the  printers  of  Kansas  City  to  carry  forward 
the  purposes  for  which  the  United  Typothetas  has  been  called 
into  being. 


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AUG  2  4 1975  jt^ 


AUG  2 4  1975  5  ft, „ 


LD21— A-40m-i2,'74  General  Library 

(S2700L)  University  Of  California 

Btrkeley 


